Online, higher-ed organizations offer guiding principles for evolving the HEA for 21st Century learners

hea-reauthFairness, innovation, and accountability are the three guiding principles Congress should use as it reviews the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) in light the use of technology and online platforms for learning.

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC), the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) and the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) have released recommendations for Congress to consider as it readies for HEA reauthorization.

“Current law and regulation trail innovation,” said Russ Poulin, director, policy and analysis, WCET. “While technology-mediated education greatly expands opportunities in higher education, the current federal regulatory system was designed for the traditional students of the past who were educated in a static setting that is very different from the reality experienced by the vast majority of postsecondary students today.”

According to a 2015 Babson Research Survey Group and Quahog Research Group, one-fourth of U.S. students are taking at least one course online. And in 2012, almost 63 percent of U.S. colleges and universities offered fully-online degree programs–nearly double the 32.5 percent who offered fully-online degree programs a decade earlier.

(Next page: The three guiding HEA principles)

Together, OLC, UPCEA and WCET represent more than 1,000 higher education institutions throughout the United States, whose members strive to model the innovative use of technologies to increase access and improve educational outcomes.

UPCEA, OLC and WCET and the member institutions they represent suggest the following guiding principles for Congress when considering current laws and regulations in the use of educational technologies, either at a distance or in the traditional classroom:

  • Fairness. Provide equal access to Federal financial aid for students learning at a distance or via innovative methods (including but not limited to competency-based education and adaptive learning) as for “traditional” students.
  • Innovation. Rules grounded in the traditional classroom hinder advancements. Since innovations will continue to emerge among higher education institutions, consider authorizing particular innovations in the HEA itself and allow greater flexibility in statute for the Department of Education to waive rules or conduct further “experimental” or “demonstration” projects to help incubate future innovations.
  • Accountability. Holding colleges to standards for student performance and protection of financial aid funds need not add to the burden of over-regulation. This balanced approach to any new laws and regulations should be narrowly tailored to address specific needs.

“The current system was established over 50 years ago, when the typical student was ‘college-aged’ and full-time,” said Karen Pedersen, Ph.D., chief knowledge officer, OLC. “Today’s learners are people you know – working adults, single parents, military personnel and their families, veterans, caregivers, farm families, and others. For them, classroom-based learning creates enormous challenges of time, access, and cost.”

“Contemporary learners constitute 85 percent of today’s learners,” said Robert Hansen, CEO, UPCEA. “Our coalition is dedicated to advocating for advancing access, innovation, and creative solutions to help realign federal policy with the current higher education landscape.”

The coalition also produced an infographic that illustrates 50-plus years of evolution in higher education (1965 through 2016), displaying the need to evolve the Higher Education Act for the 21st Century learner.

The infographic and supporting information for the coalition’s guiding principles are available online.

Material from a press release was used in this report.

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Laura Ascione

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