Competency based vs Self Paced

[jsd]

I was thinking about this the other day while I was comparing the Patten model vs the WGU model.

Patten seems more self paced and WGU seems more competency based.

Patten requires you to do one project and one exam per course, and optional assignments that will count towards your grade if you choose to do them. In either case, you end the course with a letter grade. You don't have to read any of the material, but the exams do have some specific questions from the material (and a ton of questions about topics never addressed in the material, but that's a whole other issue).

WGU you can jump right to the final exam (or project, depending on course... Some require both, but that's not the usual). The assessments are not specific to the material, bit the overall concepts. The courses result in pass/fail, never a letter grade.