Issue Primers

The quality of American higher education is an issue of increasing concern to employers and policy experts alike. For many years, employers have complained that college graduates lack the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in the workforce. For example, a recent study found that employers believed that recent graduates are deficient in understanding their role in the workplace and having realistic career expectations, recognizing, and dealing with conflict constructively, accepting and applying critiques and direction in the workplace, listening effectively, and communicating accurately and concisely. Perhaps surprisingly, alumni and students – but not faculty — share similar concerns. These concerns are not new. They have, however, taken on increased urgency given the need for more Americans to have the skills required to compete and succeed in today’s economy and to meet the challenges posed by the global pandemic.

One way to ensure college graduates have the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the workforce is to embrace competency-based education (CBE). While there is no federal definition in law or regulation of competency-based education, guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) for institutions participating in an experiment utilizing this educational methodology describes it in the following terms:

In general, a CBE program is one that organizes content according to what a student
knows and can do, often referred to as a “competency.” CBE programs also generally have
very clear claims for student learning, stress what students can do with the knowledge and
skills they acquire and have assessments that provide measurable evidence of
competency. Student progress is determined by mastery of each competency. Because
CBE focuses on whether students have mastered these competencies, there is a focus on
learning outcomes rather than time spent in a classroom.