June 2025 Eye on Research
Commentary
Taking a July Break: A Summer Pause for Reflection and Renewal
As we settle into the summer months, I want to let you know there will be no Eye on Research blog in July 2025. Like many of you, we're taking a brief pause to recharge and prepare for what promises to be another dynamic year in higher-education research.
This summer break gives us time to reflect on the wealth of research we've shared over the past academic year—from examining the complexities of excess credit accumulation to exploring innovative AI applications in credit mobility. The patterns we've observed tell a story of a field continually evolving to serve today's diverse learner populations.
As we head into summer, many of you will use your time for strategic planning, professional development, and probably some well-deserved rest. To our registrars, admissions professionals, and all who support learner mobility–thank you for another academic year of dedication to educational access and opportunity.
We'll return in August with fresh research insights, continued updates on AACRAO's ongoing studies and our usual deep dive into the latest developments affecting higher education. Until then, we hope you find time for both professional renewal and well-deserved rest.
Thank you for your continued engagement with Eye on Research. Your participation in our surveys, thoughtful responses to our findings and commitment to evidence-based practice make this research community stronger. Enjoy your July. We'll see you back here in August!
AACRAO Research Update
AI and Credit Mobility Green Paper Now Available
AACRAO has released the final Green Paper for the LEARN Commission. The paper examines artificial intelligence (AI) applications for credit-mobility processes. It explores existing methodologies, key obstacles and potential growth areas within the field.
The paper reveals a significant gap between recognition and implementation. Ninety-four percent of surveyed higher-education professionals acknowledge AI's potential to transform credit-evaluation processes. However, only 15% report current implementation. Early adopters report meaningful benefits, including improvements in processing speed, accuracy and consistency in decision making.
However, substantial knowledge gaps persist regarding AI technologies and credit-mobility applications. Resource constraints, including limited funding and staff training, present significant barriers to adoption.
The Green Paper emphasizes successful AI implementation requires addressing technical infrastructure needs and underlying standardization issues in credit-evaluation practices. A balanced approach—leveraging AI's efficiency while preserving necessary human judgment—may be essential to enhance credit mobility and support learner success.
You can access the complete Green Paper through the LEARN Commission's website.
Forthcoming AACRAO Research Summer Releases
Our research pipeline will deliver some compelling new resources for your summer reading stack. Here's what's coming soon. Perfect timing for some poolside professional development or conference prep reading!
High School Dual Enrollment Benchmark Report: Our partnership with NACEP has produced fresh data to update our 2016 benchmark with current practices and policies. Consider it your comprehensive field guide to the evolving world of dual enrollment, complete with 2024 insights. You can expect to see this in your inboxes later this summer.
From Research to Vision to Reality–A Blueprint toward a Learner-Centered Credit-Mobility Ecosystem: This comprehensive White Paper represents the culmination of over a decade of AACRAO research with a deep dive into 36 Texas public institutions that serve as a microcosm of national credit-mobility challenges. Research reveals that core barriers aren't technological gaps but fundamental operational deficiencies. Institutions often manually process electronic transcripts despite automation capabilities. The paper presents a strategic framework for fixing foundational issues before pursuing advanced solutions. The paper will be released in time for the AACRAO Technology and Transfer conference in July.
Your Voice Shapes Our Field's Future
Research is fundamentally a collaborative endeavor. When you participate in our surveys, you're not just checking boxes, you're contributing to a comprehensive understanding of higher-education's evolving landscape. Every response adds depth and nuance to data that shapes our field's future. Miss the survey, and we lose valuable insights. Participate, and you help build evidence that truly represents our profession's complexity.
As a token of our appreciation (and to acknowledge your valuable time), we're continuing to offer $10 electronic gift cards through Giftbit for the first 250 completers of select AACRAO surveys. Prefer to pay it forward? You can donate your incentive to charity.
Here's what's on deck:
Chief Admissions Officer Career Profile Survey: Now in the field! This marks the fourth wave in our longitudinal study that began in 2016. Your participation helps us track career patterns, compensation trends and professional satisfaction over time. Data directly informs AACRAO's leadership development and advocacy efforts. Every career story strengthens our understanding of the profession.
September–AI in Academic Operations Survey (with Coursedog): A focused 60-second exploration of how institutions are approaching AI integration in academic operations. Whether you're an AI enthusiast or skeptic, your perspective matters. Curious about academic operations as a functional area? AACRAO's resources can help you explore this growing field.
October–Admissions Staffing Survey: This is our newest addition! We're complementing our career-profile work with staffing analysis to understand who leads and how teams are structured. Staffing patterns tell us as much about institutional priorities as individual career paths do.
Your voice matters. Participation today could influence years of professional development, policy decisions and institutional practices. We look forward to receiving your responses.
Current Higher Education Research and Related Topics
Report Examines the Growth of the “Some College, No Credential” Population
This National Student Clearinghouse Research Center report tackles the growing challenge of the "some college, no credential" (SCNC) population. There are 37.5 million Americans under age 65 who started college but never finished. This group is expanding faster than a freshman's waistline during their first semester. While the situation looks bleak with nearly 800,000 more people joining the SCNC ranks in just 1 year (between 2022/23 and 2023/24), there is a silver lining. Re-enrollment efforts are showing modest success across most states. Figure 1.
The numbers game: About 2.1 million learners left college without credentials between January 2022 and July 2023. Over 1 million SCNC individuals re-enrolled or finally earned their credentials during 2023-24.
State initiatives are working: Colorado's CORE program and Massachusetts's MassReconnect show particularly strong results. Massachusetts saw a 35% jump in SCNC re-enrollment rates between 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Institution shopping is common: Sixty-six percent of returning learners switch to completely different types of institutions. They often move from traditional colleges to community colleges or online programs.
Timing and credits matter: Learners who accumulated 2 years of credits or stopped out recently (within 4-5 semesters) were more likely to return to their original institution.
Quick wins are popular: Among those who completed credentials after returning, 43% earned certificates and 31% earned associate degrees within their first year back.
Figure 1: Re-Enrollees Switch Institution Type
Source: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's Some College, No Credential Student Outcomes 2025 report
Survey Focuses on What Parents of Learners in Higher Education Say They Need
This CampusESP survey (download required) of over 30,000 families across 80+ colleges reveals helicopter parenting is alive and well. Nearly 50% of learners chat with their families daily, and 77% of parents want weekly updates. Research exposes a disconnect between what colleges think parents want versus what they actually want, particularly regarding career outcomes and financial transparency. Figure 2.
Communication is king: 77% of families want weekly or more frequent contact from their learner's college (up 7% from 2024 to 2025). Email is still preferred, but text messaging is gaining ground, especially among Black, Hispanic Latino, limited-income and first-generation families
Daily check-ins are the norm: Nearly 50% of learners talk to their families every day, with the highest rates coming from families earning under $60,000 annually. Learners are primarily seeking support with student life, academics and mental health.
Career info is lacking: While families are satisfied with academic content, they're least happy with job placement and career-services information. This is ironic, given their declining satisfaction with college ROI and increasing demands for postgraduation outcome data.
Money talks (and confuses): 59% of families struggle to fund college education; 25% find financial-aid information easy to navigate. Nearly 50% need to call for clarification; 89% want access to billing data, and 79% want financial-aid transparency.
Loyalty is transferable: 33% of families feel more connected to their child's college than their own alma mater; 22% are more likely to donate to their child's school than their own. Less than 50% are satisfied with the current involvement opportunities at their child’s current institution.
Figure 2: Topics of information important to families versus satisfaction with communication for these topics
Source: CampusESP. (2025). FAMILY SURVEY: What 32,423 college parents told us they need.
Study Shows Value of IELTS Scores in Academic Success
A study from York University in Toronto, Canada provides compelling evidence that International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores are strong predictors of international-learner academic success. It clearly shows correlations between higher English-proficiency test scores and better initial GPAs. Backed by longitudinal data demonstrating language skills translate into sustained academic performance over time, research makes a strong case for universities to rely more heavily on IELTS scores in admissions decisions.
Strong initial performance link: Learners with higher IELTS scores consistently achieved better first-semester GPAs, especially in language-heavy fields, such as social sciences, humanities and business economics.
Academic resilience factor: Those who scored higher on IELTS tests showed greater ability to bounce back from temporary GPA dips, suggesting that strong English skills help learners navigate and overcome academic challenges more effectively.
Longitudinal predictive power: The study tracked learners across multiple semesters, revealing IELTS scores predict initial success and sustained academic performance over time.
Data-driven admissions advantage: Universities can use IELTS scores as a reliable selection tool to identify learners with a higher probability of academic readiness and long-term success in English-medium environments.
Industry validation: Supporting research from the British Council confirms these findings. Many UK universities have tightened their English-test requirements due to concerns about learner struggles when less rigorous testing was accepted during COVID-19.
Study Examines College “Stop-Outs”
An article from Inside Higher Ed details a new University of Washington at Tacoma (UWT) study that examines why learners leave college. Fifty-six learners from UWT and Tacoma Community College were interviewed. Research reveals that while financial struggles affect 75% of learners, the real story is more complex, involving everything from lack of purpose to health challenges to having problems navigating college systems.
Financial barriers dominate but aren't everything: 75% of learners cited financial struggles as a reason for leaving. However, this wasn't always their primary motivation. Issues ranged from basic living expenses to the inability to balance work and coursework.
Life happens: About 25% of learners left due to major life changes, such as caregiving responsibilities, marriage, having children or relocating. Twenty percent faced mental-health challenges, and 10% dealt with physical-health issues.
College navigation can be confusing: Over 25% of learners struggle with basic college systems, from understanding program requirements to figuring out parking or course registration. First-generation learners were particularly affected.
Purpose and belonging matter hugely: More than 50% of participants felt disconnected from their career goals or felt they didn't feel they belonged on campus. Community-college learners are more likely to lack clear career direction. University learners are more likely to question whether they need a degree.
Solutions focus on purpose-building: UWT is integrating career exploration into curriculum, creating microinternship opportunities and incorporating purpose development into high-impact practices, like internships and undergraduate research.
Annual Report Examines Online Learners
The 13th annual Voice of the Online Learner report from Risepoint examines the motivations, behaviors and preferences of online learners. It reveals these learners represent a distinct population of working adults who view education as a strategic career investment rather than a traditional college experience. Research emphasizes that universities have significant opportunities to serve this growing market by designing programs to accommodate the unique needs of busy professionals juggling work, family, and educational commitments. Figure 3.
Online learners are a unique demographic: These learners are primarily working adults with specific needs and goals that make online education their preferred—and often only viable—option for continuing their education.
Career advancement drives enrollment: Whether pursuing degree or nondegree programs, learners view higher education as a pathway to new jobs, promotions, salary increases and expanded career opportunities.
Lifelong-learning mindset prevails: Online learners see education as an ongoing process to keep their skills current and maintain employability. They show strong interest in pursuing additional online programs over time,
Work-life-education balance is critical: Most online learners must simultaneously manage work responsibilities and family obligations along with their studies, requiring flexible program design.
Retention opportunities through multiple touchpoints: Universities that serve online learners well can expect repeat customers. Satisfied learners are likely to return for additional educational offerings throughout their careers.
Figure 3: Online Learner’s Other Responsibilities
Source: Risepoint. (2024). Voice of the online learner.
Report Finds Learners Use Generative AI but Prefer In-Person Learning
A new Tyton Partners report (download required), backed by the Gates Foundation and McGraw Hill Education, surveyed over 3,300 learners, instructors and administrators across 900+ U.S. colleges. Research examines how higher education is adapting to generative AI, learner-engagement challenges and evolving expectations around flexibility and support. Results reveal a pendulum swing back toward in-person learning while highlighting the growing complexity of learner needs that extend beyond traditional academic concerns. Figure 4.
The return of face-to-face learning: Instructor preference for in-person teaching jumped from 55% to 64% between 2023 and 2025. Learners similarly gravitated toward face-to-face and hybrid formats, signaling renewed demand for classroom connection.
Learner struggles are multifaceted: Nearly half of instructors identify academic anxiety as a top concern. Challenges go beyond course content. Learners report low motivation and weak study habits as persistent barriers.
AI adoption is widespread but complicated: Weekly generative AI use has reached 42% of learners and 30% of instructors. Faculty members are feeling the pressure of redesigning assessments and grappling with academic-integrity concerns.
Data-driven support is underutilized: Most instructors rely on personal observation, rather than platform analytics to assess learner engagement. Crucial opportunities for timely intervention and potential introduction of bias are often missed.
Platform evolution is essential: Faculty who view digital platforms as comprehensive learner-success tools, rather than mere content-delivery systems, report higher satisfaction and better access to instructional data. This can inform support strategies.
Figure 4: Preferred Modality of Instruction
Source: Tyton Partners. (2025a). TIME FOR CLASS 2025: EMPOWERING EDUCATORS, ENGAGING learnerS.
Study Examines Spending on Learner Support
This study from Studocu examines whether U.S. colleges that invest more heavily in learner-support services see better graduation outcomes. Modest positive correlations were found, and the complex web of factors that influence learner success was acknowledged. The research comes when financial aid is decreasing (dropping 8% from 2012 to 2022-23), and colleges have ramped up spending on academic support and learner services by over 60% during the same period. Institutions examined included those in the United States that have over 100 undergraduate students, offer degree-granting programs, and in the case of institutions where multiple campuses exist, the largest was selected.
Elite schools dominate spending: Top-tier institutions, such as Yale, Harvard and MIT, invest over $100,000 on academic support per learner. The national median for the institutions studied is $2,933 for academic support and $4,828 for learner services.
Modest, but meaningful, correlations emerge: There's a positive correlation of 0.259 between academic support spending and graduation rates nationally. This strengthens to 0.4 among top-tier schools, with similar patterns for learner services (0.23 nationally, 0.51 at elite institutions).
Financial aid is shrinking while support spending grows: Despite colleges increasing investment in learner-support departments by 60%, fewer learners receive financial aid due to rising tuition costs, demographic shifts and education-budget changes.
Causation remains unclear: Correlation doesn't equal causation. Factors, such as socioeconomic advantages, selective admissions at elite schools and external support systems, complicate the relationship between spending and outcomes.
Support services matter more for some learners: While services may not benefit every learner equally, they could be a deciding factor between academic success and failure for certain populations, making them potentially vital tools for learner persistence.
Learner Homelessness Programs Evaluated in New Report
This comprehensive 3-year evaluation of California's College Focused Rapid Rehousing (CFRR) program from the Center for Equitable Higher Education (CEHE) examines the country's largest state investment in addressing learner homelessness. Outcomes for 639 learners across 10 campuses were tracked to determine whether providing stable housing and case management helps learners stay in school and graduate. The research reveals CFRR participants showed better retention and higher graduation rates when compared to learners receiving only short-term housing assistance. The program also highlighted the complex challenges faced by housing-insecure learners who are disproportionately Black, first-generation and former foster youth.
CFRR delivers measurable academic success: Learners in the CFRR program had higher probabilities of staying in school or graduating compared to those receiving short-term assistance. Participants graduated at slightly higher rates than the broader population.
Housing stability translates to academic stability: Participants averaged 9 consecutive months of stable housing (equivalent to two academic semesters). The majority exited due to graduation or transition to permanent housing, rather than program failure.
Mental-health improvements are substantial: Nearly 50% of participants experienced severe psychological distress at enrollment. This dropped to 37% by the 6-month follow-up, though it was still higher than typical college learners.
Equity gaps are stark and persistent: Black/African American learners and former foster youth were overrepresented in the program, relative to general campus populations. Seventeen percent of participants were current or former foster youth and 37% reported at least one disability.
Postgraduation support remains critical: While most learners maintained stable housing a year after leaving the program, 62% experienced difficult-to-pay rent increases and 25% missed rent payments. There may be a need for transition support beyond graduation.
Study Examines Learner Stress
This study from Brainly surveyed 3,682 U.S. high-school learners in March 2025 to examine how academic stress, mental-health challenges and AI adoption shape the contemporary learner experience. It revealed stress has become a daily reality for most learners, while institutional support remains inadequate. Research shows learners are increasingly turning to AI tools as a coping mechanism and an academic lifeline. Usage rates climbed significantly from the previous year as traditional support systems failed to meet their needs.
Stress is pervasive and unrelenting: 77% of learners report being stressed, with schoolwork and grades being the top stressors (69.2%). Stress extends beyond school hours; 36% feel anxious about school every weekend.
Sleep deprivation is widespread: 45% of learners get 6 hours or less of sleep on school nights. Only 11.5% getting the recommended 8+ hours; 41% expressed interest in daytime nap periods.
Mental-health-support gaps persist: 69% of schools offer some stress/mental-health education; 76% of learners want more regular life-skills and coping-mechanism instruction, indicating current programs are insufficient.
Future anxiety is mounting: 49.2% worry about finding fulfilling career paths. Concerns about job security and happiness outweigh traditional college-admission worries, reflecting broader economic and technological uncertainties.
AI adoption is surging as a stress-relief tool: 67% of learners plan to use AI for final exams (up from 59% in 2024). Nearly 78% report AI helps reduce overall school stress, and 80.6% believe it can improve their grades.
College Selection Process Influenced by Many Factors
This EAB insight paper (download required) is based on surveys of roughly 40,000 high-school and first-year college learners. It examines how the college-selection process has evolved in response to the increasing politicization of higher education, the rise of AI tools and shifting campus dynamics around diversity and free expression. Research reveals that while politics has become a significant new factor in college choice, traditional concerns, such as cost and accessibility, still dominate learner decision making as institutions navigate complex policy changes around DEI programs.
Politics now influences college choice significantly: 29% of prospective learners removed at least one college from their list due to perceived campus politics. Sixteen percent 16% did so because of state-level policies, marking the first time EAB included political considerations in their survey.
Cost remains the primary barrier: Despite political concerns, 71% of learners removed colleges from consideration due to expense. Forty-seven percent eliminated schools that were too far from home, showing traditional accessibility issues still outweigh political factors.
AI adoption is widespread but distrusted: Nearly 50% of learners now get college information from AI chatbots (compared to institutional websites a decade ago). Some AI counseling tools saw 300% user growth. Only 3% of learners find AI information trustworthy.
Campus-belonging priorities are evolving: Learners increasingly consider safety and well-being in their decisions; 53% value campus commitments to diversity and 35% prioritize free expression.
Enrollment management faces new challenges: The politicization of higher education since 2020, accelerated by varied COVID responses and recent federal-policy changes, has forced enrollment professionals to adapt their strategies as learners increasingly factor political climate into their college choices.
Analysis Demonstrates Need for Data-Driven Credential Funding Models
This comprehensive analysis from the American Enterprise Institute examines the explosive growth and quality of the credentialing marketplace. Over 1.1 million credentials now exist, but only about 12% deliver meaningful wage gains. This creates a critical need for data-driven oversight before expanding public funding, like Workforce Pell grants. The research uses large-scale labor market data to demonstrate top-tier credentials can be transformative, yielding nearly $5,000 in annual wage gains and improving career mobility. However, the vast majority of credentials offer little to no return on investment, creating a policy imperative to tie funding to empirical outcomes rather than process-based accreditation.
The credentialing market is massively oversaturated: Learners face a marketplace with minimal quality oversight reminiscent of the for-profit college boom and bust.
Top credentials deliver transformative outcomes: The best 10% of credentials increase career-switching success sixfold and boost promotion probability 17-fold. This benefits historically underrepresented groups like Black and Hispanic women.
Provider brand doesn't guarantee quality: Even prestigious institutions like Stanford offer both high-performing and ineffective credentials. Outcomes vary even within the same field and from the same provider.
Current funding models lack accountability: A recent Department of Education pilot study found expanding Pell Grant access to short-term programs increased enrollment but produced no wage improvements due to lack of quality standards.
Data-driven funding is essential: Replacing traditional process-based accreditation with empirical evaluation of outcomes across wages, career mobility and promotion metrics may protect both learners and taxpayer investments.
Survey Findings Indicate Need for Better Postsecondary Education Guidance
An article from Inside Higher Ed reports on the Jobs for the Future (JFF) survey of 1,300 learners. It reveals a concerning information gap. About 90% of high-school learners rely on parents and teachers for postsecondary guidance. However, many parents lack comprehensive knowledge about educational pathways beyond traditional 4-year degrees. Research highlights the need for better resources and earlier career-exploration support to help learners make informed decisions about their postgraduation options.
Learners feel unprepared and uninformed: A majority of high-school learners report not feeling ready for postsecondary education. They are not familiar with the many pathways available to them after graduation.
Parent knowledge is uneven across options: 60% of parents feel knowledgeable about paid jobs and 52% about bachelor's degrees. Only 37% know much about associate degrees, with even lower awareness of other postsecondary alternatives.
Heavy reliance on limited guidance sources: Approximately 90% of learners depend primarily on parents and teachers for information about postgraduation options. This creates a bottleneck when these sources lack comprehensive knowledge.
Information gaps prevent optimal pathways: Knowledge deficits actively prevent learners from pursuing their ideal career paths or learning about available options.
Early intervention is essential: JFF CEO Maria Flynn emphasized learners need support exploring career interests and educational pathways much sooner so they understand what training and skills are required for future jobs before they graduate.
Perceptions of College Affordability the Focus of New Survey
This Strade survey of 2,004 adults examines American perceptions of college affordability. It reveals widespread concerns about higher-education costs and significant knowledge gaps about actual pricing at public institutions. Research aims to understand how cost perceptions influence educational decisions and explores public attitudes toward funding solutions. This is important, given that cost is cited as the primary reason by 33% of learners who leave college without completing their degree. Figure 5.
Affordability crisis is widely perceived: 77% of adults believe college is unaffordable. Sixty-five percent indicate college costs are prohibitively expensive, highlighting the perceived severity of the financial barrier.
Public support exists for increased funding: A majority of respondents support increasing public spending on postsecondary education and financial-aid programs. This suggests openness to policy solutions, despite cost concerns.
Cost estimates are inaccurate: Most people overestimated the actual costs of public 2-year and 4-year institutions. This indicates a major information gap in public understanding of college pricing.
Educational attainment affects cost-perception accuracy: Individuals with high-school diplomas or less education had the least accurate understanding of college costs. They were more likely to over- or underestimate actual expenses.
Transparency is critically needed: Findings highlight an urgent need for better communication about postsecondary education pricing to help learners make informed financial decisions about their educational pathways.
Figure 5: Perceptions of How Affordable it is to Attend College
Source: Ward, J. D., Draeger, J., Clayton, D., & Strada Education Foundation. (2024). Cost confusion: Americans’ misperceptions of college costs. In strada.org.
Faculty-Compensation Survey Data Available
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP)'s Faculty Compensation Survey, established in 1958, serves as the largest independent source of faculty salary and benefits data in the United States. The annual survey collected compensation information from nearly 900 colleges and universities, covering approximately 400,000 full-time and 100,000 part-time faculty members. The survey provides verified data to support faculty negotiations, institutional benchmarking and policy research across the higher-education landscape.
Comprehensive national coverage: Faculty from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are represented. This is the most extensive independent faculty-compensation database available.
Detailed compensation breakdown: Data collection includes salary information disaggregated by faculty rank, gender, tenure status, contract length and benefits, such as medical-insurance contributions, retirement plans and tuition assistance.
Multistakeholder use: The survey serves diverse users of the data, including faculty, trustees, policymakers, economists, researchers, media and the general public.
Systematic annual process: Data collection concludes each March, with preliminary results released in April, followed by a comprehensive Annual Report published in the early summer, and the final datasets available in July.
Accessible data presentation: Results are made available through multiple formats, including institutional appendices, an interactive website with historical data back to 2014-15 and complete datasets for purchase or free access to qualifying AAUP and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) leaders.
Report Examines Mathematics Obstacles for Learners
A new report from Just Equations examines how math requirements create barriers for community-college learners seeking to transfer to 4-year universities, particularly those pursuing STEM degrees. Only 2% of community-college learners earn STEM bachelor's degrees within 6 years. Through interviews with 34 higher-education professionals and learners in California, research identifies various obstacles that complicate what should be a streamlined transfer process.
Math anxiety creates significant psychological barriers: Learners internalize negative messages about their math abilities from teachers and peers. This can lead some to avoid math courses entirely or rule out transfer options, like UCLA, that require additional math prerequisites.
Transfer requirements are inconsistently complex and opaque: Different campuses within the same system often have varying math requirements for identical majors. This forces learners to take extra courses to keep multiple transfer options open. Some learners need to repeat courses at different colleges due to articulation issues.
Current transfer tools are inadequate: California's ASSIST website, while comprehensive, lacks user-friendly features, such as side-by-side comparisons, and contains inconsistencies with actual campus requirements. This makes transfer planning cumbersome and prone to error.
Scheduling conflicts extend time to degree: Sequential course offerings, limited sections, enrollment caps and transportation issues can delay learners, such as STEM learners who need specific lab courses and calculus sequences.
Policy tensions hinder reform efforts: Competing priorities between innovation versus standardization, institutional autonomy versus systemwide consistency and efficient completion versus academic quality, create implementation challenges that prevent streamlined transfer pathways from being fully realized.
Accreditor Approaches to Credit for Prior Learning Examined in Report
A new research brief from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) examines how seven formerly regional accrediting bodies and other institutional accreditors address credit for prior learning (CPL) policies in their standards and guidance documents. It provides an updated analysis from their 2014 report on the same topic. The study reveals significant evolution in accreditor approaches to CPL. Most accrediting bodies now treat CPL as part of broader transfer policies and show increased flexibility in recognizing nontraditional learning experiences.
Credit limits vary significantly across accreditors: Three accreditors impose no specific CPL credit restrictions; others limit CPL to 25% (NECHE and WSCUC) or 75% (HLC and SACSCOC) of degree requirements. WSCUC plans to remove its restrictions in 2025.
Graduate-level CPL restrictions have largely disappeared: In 2014, three accreditors restricted CPL to undergraduates only. Today, none of the six accreditors overseeing graduate education currently maintain such limitations.
All accreditors emphasize transparency and quality standards: Every accreditor requires clear, publicly available CPL policies and references recommended practices. Six of seven specifically require faculty involvement in CPL-evaluation processes.
CPL is increasingly integrated with transfer policies: All seven accreditors now address CPL within their transfer-credit frameworks. This may be influenced by the Joint Statement on Transfer and Award of Credit issued by AACRAO, ACE and CHEA.
Career and faith-based accreditors show limited CPL guidance: Among other institutional accreditors, only four of six career-related and three of six faith-related accreditors have specific CPL policies. Most focus primarily on transparency requirements rather than detailed implementation guidance.