Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Student aid change could mark shift in online education

Many in higher education say the traditional credit-hour model has been seen as restrictive.

Making federal student aid available to students enrolled in competency-based courses is more than an acknowledgement of legitimacy for nontraditional education, experts said, but rather a policy decision that could lead to a spike in competency-based classes, many of them online.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED), after months of anticipation from colleges that have long provided nontraditional education offerings, said March 16 that competency-based learning programs – not just those based on traditional credit hours, or “seat hours” – may be eligible for Title IV student aid, including Pell grants and federal student loans.

Before ED’s official announcement, government aid had not been available for those taking competency-based classes in which students can earn credit toward a degree based on prior learning.…Read More

Public university becomes first to endorse untraditional online model

About 20 percent of Wisconsin adults have some postsecondary course credit.

Students at the University of Wisconsin (UW) can earn college degrees based on proven competency in a subject, making UW the first publicly-funded school to launch a competency-based degree program.

Led by officials at UW-Extension, a continued learning program with offices located across Wisconsin, the UW Flexible Degree will let incoming students demonstrate their knowledge and cut down on the time it takes to earn a degree.

UW Chancellor Ray Cross and Gov. Scott Walker unveiled the Flexible Degree program June 19 as a way to help Wisconsinites boost their education credentials and fill empty jobs that require a two-or-four-year degree.…Read More

Rules could prompt colleges to pull online programs from some states

Half of colleges said they would not seek authorization in all 50 states.

Online college students in Massachusetts, Arkansas, and Minnesota soon could have more limited school options as colleges and universities plan to withdraw their online programs from those states in response to a much-debated set of regulations.

Colleges with large online course selections that draw students from every state have railed against the U.S. Education Department’s “state authorization” rules, which require schools to gain approval from every state in which they have even one online student.

And even after a federal judge voided part of the state authorization rule in July, online education experts say ED probably will reintroduce the regulations in 2012.…Read More

Model online school gets big gift from Gates Foundation

WGU Indiana students graduate in an average of two and a half years.

An expanding online university that allows students to move through coursework based on competency, not just class credits, received a $4.5 million grant that will be used to bolster its web-based programs in Indiana, Washington state, and Texas.

Western Governors University (WGU), a Utah-based nonprofit online school formed in 1999 with about 20,000 students nationwide, announced Aug. 29 that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had awarded the grant in support of the university’s newest statewide programs.

Read more about the Gates Foundation in higher education……Read More

Editorial: Western Governors University makes good call with Floten

Washington’s first fully online university makes a strong play for academic heft and innovation by tapping Bellevue College President Jean Floten as its chancellor, reports the Seattle Times. Floten brings gravitas and assertive leadership, a perfect fit for the big plans of Western Governors University-Washington. The nonprofit, online university created in 1997 by governors of 19 Western states, including this one, has a small footprint here…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

New federal rule could have worst impact on small states

Online schools could face high registration fees in many states.

Colleges with online programs might withdraw from states, mostly in the northeast, that have small populations and stringent requirements for distance education courses when the Education Department’s (ED’s) “state authorization” regulation kicks in July 1.

Decision makers from online schools from across the country gathered March 28 in Washington, D.C. for the annual Presidents’ Forum, hosted by web-based Excelsior College. Presidents, provosts, and deans decried the state authorization rule, which will require schools to gain approval from every state in which they have a student.

Robert Mendenhall, president of Western Governors University, said during his address to the forum that certification fees vary widely from state to state, with many of the toughest approval processes in small states such as Massachusetts and New Hampshire.…Read More

Indiana forms state branch of private online college

Nearly 20,000 students are already taking classes through Western Governors University, including nearly 300 in Indiana
Nearly 20,000 students are taking classes through WGU, including nearly 300 in Indiana.

A new agreement between the state of Indiana and a private online university will allow Indiana residents to use state scholarships to pay for tuition at the computer-based program. The arrangement is the first of its kind, but it could signal the beginning of a larger trend in higher education.

WGU Indiana is a new branch of Western Governors University, a private, nonprofit university designed for working adults trying to earn bachelor’s or master’s degrees. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says he considers WGU Indiana, established June 11 when Daniels signed an executive order, to be the eighth state university—although it is technically a private program and will not get state funding like other colleges.

Daniels said WGU Indiana will help adults earn degrees at their own pace and on their own schedule.…Read More