Dive Brief:
- A pilot project to make it easier for nontraditional learners to attain college degrees has signed up 25 higher education institutions.
- The participating colleges and universities will accept transfer credits from students who complete low-cost or no-cost lower-level, general-education online courses, and they will help select the 100 or so courses to be included in the program.
- The American Council on Education’s project is funded by a $1.89 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dive Insight:
The nontraditional students targeted by the initiative are adults who don’t have a college degree or credential, but have some postsecondary coursework completed — an estimated 31 million people, according the American Council on Education’s announcement. But the nontraditional category will also include first-generation college students from low-income families.
The 25 schools participating include:
- American Public University
- Capella University
- Central Michigan University
- Charter Oak State College
- Colorado Community College System
- Colorado Technical University
- East Carolina University
- Fayetteville State University
- Fort Hays State University
- Goodwin College
- John F. Kennedy University
- Kaplan University
- Lakeland College
- Metropolitan State University of Denver
- National Louis University
- Northern Arizona University
- Northwestern State University
- Notre Dame College
- SUNY Empire State College
- Texas Woman's University
- Thomas Edison State College
- University of Baltimore
- University of Maryland University College
- University of Memphis
- University of North Carolina
