"Outside of the elite institutions that dominate the discourse, it's common for students to "swirl" between or among institutions. These are students who picked up some credits here and some there, often with breaks for life happening and/or financial issues. They often show up at community colleges in hopes of taking a few more classes to patch together an actual degree."
"As dual enrollment has become more common, I foresee scenarios like these becoming more common. A student takes, say, 24 credits from one or more providers while in high school, then spends a semester or two "away" at college, assembling some more credits. Life happens, the student spends some time working, then shows up at the community college hoping to put together a degree to improve their employment prospects and/or salary."
"But it raises a tricky question from an assessment perspective. The point of assessment is to show that, upon completion, students are capable of doing what the program or college claims they'll be able to do. A relatively low residency requirement-that is, requiring a relatively low percentage of a degree to be taken at the college awarding the degree-is a boon to students who have been places, but it stands in tension with the goals of outcomes assessment."
Many students accumulate credits across multiple institutions, often pausing for work or financial reasons, then enroll at community colleges to complete degrees. Community colleges provide accessible, low-cost, and geographically convenient options with open admissions for such students. Dual enrollment and other pathways increase the number of transferred credits students bring to a degree-granting institution. Outcomes assessment intends to verify that graduates can perform claimed competencies upon completion. Very low residency requirements (for example, 25 percent or 15 credits of a 60-credit degree) enable degree completion but create uncertainty about which institution's instruction produced assessed outcomes.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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