Alternative Postsecondary Pathways: What We Know, What We Don't Know, and Why It Matters

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Autor/in	Kurzweil, Martin
Titel	Alternative Postsecondary Pathways: What We Know, What We Don't Know, and Why It Matters
Quelle	In: Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50 (2018) 3-4, S.154-157 (4 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0009-1383
DOI	10.1080/00091383.2018.1509654
Schlagwörter	Postsecondary Education; Nontraditional Education; Nontraditional Students; Costs; Academic Persistence; Debt (Financial); Certification; Workplace Learning; Training; Large Group Instruction; Online Courses; Competency Based Education; Coding; Programming; Job Skills + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Non-traditional education; Alternative Erziehung; Cost; Kosten; Abschlusszeugnis; Zertifizierung; Ausbildung; Online course; Online-Kurs; Education; Competence; Competency; Competency-based education; Unterricht; Kompetenzorientierte Methode; Codierung; Programmierung; Produktive Fertigkeit
Abstract	Postsecondary training--and a credential recognizing it--have become all but essential in the twenty-first-century economy. The reasons for this are complex, but rapid innovation in services and products--including the increasing integration of technology--and the resulting evolving nature of work are surely factors. These shifts have placed a premium both on employees whose prior training allows them to adapt to the shifting context and on the availability of just-in-time retraining. The production of higher education credentials has not kept pace with this increasing demand. While the share of the population that has started a postsecondary program has increased significantly in the past thirty years, the share that has completed a program and earned a credential has increased by much less. As a result, the United States is on track to produce about 16 million fewer postsecondary credentials than the economy will require in 2025. The high cost of traditional college or university degree programs is an important source of these shortcomings. Structured around two- or four-year sequences of fixed-length, in-person instruction, with a great degree of flexibility in the combination of courses that meet program requirements and no expectation of consistency across instructors (even those teaching what are nominally the same course), the model is anything but efficient. Much of the resulting high cost is passed on to students, in tuition and fees that have grown at a rate well above inflation and in the excess time and expense associated with navigating this complicated system. Far too many of the students who start and never complete such a traditional program are saddled with debt they don't have the means to pay off. Confronted with these challenges, researchers, policymakers, funders, and prospective students have increasingly begun to look beyond traditional programs, providers, and credentials to meet the demand for postsecondary training. Faster, cheaper, and directly related to the needs of employers, a variety of alternatives to traditional degree programs seem to offer what degree programs lack. They appeal not only to traditional-aged students, but to the new majority of postsecondary students who are older, have some college credits but no degree, have dependents, or are working and are looking to advance their careers but cannott take two or four (or six) years out of the labor market to do it. In this article, the author presents some broad generalizations about five categories of alternative pathways to obtaining postsecondary credentials: (1) certificate programs; (2) work-based training; (3) coding bootcamps; (4) massive open online courses (MOOCs); and (5) competency-based programs. He goes on to offer three interrelated ideas to strengthen postsecondary infrastructure. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01