University of Kansas is looking to add Competency-Based Education

[RbxFunRocks]

I found this page from the University of Kansas about something called Jayhawk Flex. Apparently, representatives met together in February 2023 to discuss integrating CBE into the school. Their main objective has been to finish it by Fall 2024.

KU hopes that through Jayhawk Flex, they can launch:

• A Non-credit CBE program
  
• A For-credit, stackable, micro-credential
  
• A Full direct assessment academic program, including general education
  

They've been providing updates on this page: <https://jayhawkflex.ku.edu/cbe-ku-updates-06122024>. One week ago, they had a "Halfway There Celebration".

I think this is extremely interesting, especially coming from a R1 university. What are your thoughts?

[ss20ts]

What would be the point in investing in a non-credit CBE program?

[Vle045]

Very interesting. It will be interesting to see what they launch and at what cost. I couldn’t find much on the site. https://jayhawkflex.ku.edu/

[Jonathan Whatley]

The University of Kansas has proposals before the Kansas Board of Regents for an MS in Human & Organization Performance Effectiveness that would be offered in a CBE format (and also in a course-based hybrid format), and a MS in Education in Secondary STEM Education that would be offered in CBE format.

The MS in Human & Organization Performance Effectiveness is from the School of Professional Studies, not the business school, and it would not be AACSB.

The MS in Education in Secondary STEM Education is an alternate licensure program designed to prepare new entrants for Kansas teaching licenses. The program will include teaching placements.

Proposed CBE tuition for each is $14,000 per year.

[ss20ts]

The University of Kansas has proposals before the Kansas Board of Regents for an MS in Human & Organization Performance Effectiveness that would be offered in a CBE format (and also in a course-based hybrid format), and a MS in Education in Secondary STEM Education that would be offered in CBE format.

The MS in Human & Organization Performance Effectiveness is from the School of Professional Studies, not the business school, and it would not be AACSB.

The MS in Education in Secondary STEM Education is an alternate licensure program designed to prepare new entrants for Kansas teaching licenses. The program will include teaching placements.

Proposed CBE tuition for each is $14,000 per year.

$14K per year? That feels steep for these programs. I mean you can go to grad school and spend less than that in a tradition program and a CBE program from other colleges. Not even AACSB is not a positive. 

Things like this make me wonder who comes up with these ideas? Do they see a school like WGU be wildly successful and think hey we can do that and charge triple.....we'll make a killing without doing true research into what it takes to make these programs successful?

[ReyMysterioso]

The University of Kansas has proposals before the Kansas Board of Regents for an MS in Human & Organization Performance Effectiveness that would be offered in a CBE format (and also in a course-based hybrid format), and a MS in Education in Secondary STEM Education that would be offered in CBE format.

The MS in Human & Organization Performance Effectiveness is from the School of Professional Studies, not the business school, and it would not be AACSB.

The MS in Education in Secondary STEM Education is an alternate licensure program designed to prepare new entrants for Kansas teaching licenses. The program will include teaching placements.

Proposed CBE tuition for each is $14,000 per year.

$14K per year? That feels steep for these programs. I mean you can go to grad school and spend less than that in a tradition program and a CBE program from other colleges. Not even AACSB is not a positive. 

Things like this make me wonder who comes up with these ideas? Do they see a school like WGU be wildly successful and think hey we can do that and charge triple.....we'll make a killing without doing true research into what it takes to make these programs successful?

I think they have different goals. WGU was purpose-built to serve students en masse, affordably. Kansas likely has little interest in doing that. They definitely don't want to miss out on getting their slice of the online education revenue pie, but I suspect they're more interested in leveraging their brand recognition to serve fewer students at a higher price point. And they want to do that without undercutting their main demographic of potential students.

[bjcheung77]

I wonder if someone can finish this in the year for $14K, or if there is a set session or term for 6 months at $7K... If someone can finish in the 6 months for example, you've got a 'more recognized' degree than COSC, Excelsior, even WGU for example. It would be on par with TAMUC/UMPI but with a higher ranking as these are Public/State universities...

[Duneranger]

The University of Kansas has proposals before the Kansas Board of Regents for an MS in Human & Organization Performance Effectiveness that would be offered in a CBE format (and also in a course-based hybrid format), and a MS in Education in Secondary STEM Education that would be offered in CBE format.

The MS in Human & Organization Performance Effectiveness is from the School of Professional Studies, not the business school, and it would not be AACSB.

The MS in Education in Secondary STEM Education is an alternate licensure program designed to prepare new entrants for Kansas teaching licenses. The program will include teaching placements.

Proposed CBE tuition for each is $14,000 per year.

$14K per year? That feels steep for these programs. I mean you can go to grad school and spend less than that in a tradition program and a CBE program from other colleges. Not even AACSB is not a positive. 

Things like this make me wonder who comes up with these ideas? Do they see a school like WGU be wildly successful and think hey we can do that and charge triple.....we'll make a killing without doing true research into what it takes to make these programs successful?

KU is a big name school nationwide (especially here in the midwest) , WGU is still and always be lesser in the eyes of the general public given its an online only school. KU doesnt need to offer cheap CBE degrees like places such as UMPI. People will pay it or they dont, regardless people will go to KU. They are not going to just sell their name and reputation for nothing.

The MS is not in the business school so obviously it wont be accredited by a business accreditation body

[Courcelles]

And for 99% of the use cases, that it comes from (pick some combination of these four attributes) an AAU, R1, state flagship, that has an AACSB business school will be enough. The number of times people will look so closely (beyond just verifying that Kansas has AACSB) is exceedingly small or even non-existent.

[ss20ts]

KU is a big name school nationwide (especially here in the midwest) , WGU is still and always be lesser in the eyes of the general public given its an online only school. KU doesnt need to offer cheap CBE degrees like places such as UMPI. People will pay it or they dont, regardless people will go to KU. They are not going to just sell their name and reputation for nothing.

The MS is not in the business school so obviously it wont be accredited by a business accreditation body

How is it KU when it's called the University of Kansas? Wouldn't that be UK? 

At the end of the day, it's a state school. It's not a big name in the Northeast. Maybe it is for sports fans, but we're not playing sports. 

CBE degrees nationwide have been offered at a much lower cost than traditional campus programs. The quality of the programs definitely isn't the same especially when OPMs are involved. For $14k a year I might as stay in state and get a NYS TAP award which would lower my tuition alongside the Excelsior Scholarship if one qualifies.