Competency-based education

Competencies are defined at the program or course level and aligned to external standards where relevant. Students complete assessments that demonstrate mastery. In credit-hour models they may accelerate through material they already know. In direct assessment models the transcript or record shows competencies attained rather than (or in addition to) credit hours.

Example: a business program defines 40 competencies. A student who already knows accounting principles passes the related assessments in three weeks and moves on. Another student spends eight weeks on the same competencies. Both progress by demonstration, not by completing a fixed 15-week course. If the program awards credit hours for the demonstrated competencies, it is credit-hour CBE. If it awards the credential solely on the competency record with no credit-hour structure, it is direct assessment.

Traditional credit-hour programs measure progress by successful completion of courses that carry a set number of credits tied to expected contact or preparation time. Accelerated programs compress calendar time but usually retain credit-hour and course structures. Credit by examination awards credit for prior knowledge without embedding it in an ongoing competency-based curriculum.

Calling any self-paced online program competency-based without a defined competency framework and mastery assessments. Assuming direct assessment programs are automatically Title IV-eligible without the required approvals. Treating CBE as synonymous with the absence of any instructor interaction.