Competency-Based Programs

Acknowledgement[edit]

Thanks to user dfrecore for gathering the initial information and posting it to the forum.

General information[edit]

A competency-based program operates differently than a traditional college/university degree program. Instead of paying per credit hour for a fixed number of classes, you pay for a fixed amount of time and can take as many credits as you can within that time frame.

Some schools, such as WGU, do not follow the standard credit hour approach when it comes to listing degree requirements. This can make it a little difficult to determine what, if anything, may be transferred in from elsewhere so that you do not have to repeat courses. Other schools, such as the University of Maine at Presque Isle, use the standard credit hour system and simply allow you to complete courses on an accelerated schedule and at your own pace.

Time requirements[edit]

Depending on the number of transfer credits you have and the amount of time you have available to work on a particular degree during the week, it's not unusual to complete a bachelor's at WGU in 6-12 months, though standard students who work at a slower pace are more likely to complete their degree in a more typical 3-4 years.

Other schools may require more or less time, again depending on your schedule and the number of transfer credits that you are bringing in.

Competency-Based Education programs with subscription pricing[edit]

For sorting ability, all terms have been converted into weeks. If a school measures their term in months, that figure is given in parentheses after the number of weeks.

School	Program	Degree Levels	Cost	Term	Weekly Cost	Notes, incl. ACE and/or Transfer Credits Allowed
Anderson University	Flexible Degree/Flex Online	Bachelor's	$2600	5 weeks	$520	Accepts CLEP. Up to 75% transfer credits accepted
Capella University	FlexPath	Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate	$2500-$3200	12 weeks	$208-$267	Allowed, unknown limit. Accepts CLEP, DSST, ACE. If you fail their readiness assessment exam, they won't allow you to enroll until you get 12 credits with GPA of 2.75 through their GuidedPath program. That will cost you $4,700+.
Central Washington University	FlexIT Performance-Based	Bachelor's, Master's	$2000-$3000	3 months	$154-$231	IT management degrees only.
Clear Creek Baptist Bible College		Master's	$2000	appx. 4 months	$115	MA in Ministry. Maximum 12 semester hours per term at the $2000 rate. Tuition can also be paid $200 per competency, equal to about $67 per semester hour.
Grace Theological Seminary	Deploy	Master's	$3000	appx. 4 months	$173	MA in Local Church Ministry or MDiv in General Ministry. Online learning is combined with onsite work in the student's local church.
Indiana Wesleyan University	uLeap, Competency-Based	Bachelor's, Certificate	Varies	3 months	Varies	BS in Management, Grad Cert in Elementary Education.
Kairos University		Certificate, Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate	$300-$600	4 weeks (1 month)	$75-$150	Religious-based degrees. Some CLEP/ACE may be accepted for undergraduate degrees, but it is per the discretion of the registrar. Transfer credit (whether alternate or from another accredited school) must be applicable to the desired degree. Very few Gen Eds and no electives.
Los Angeles Pacific University (LAPU)	Ascend	Master's	$2500	4 months	$144	MS in Instructional Design and Technology.
Martin Luther College (MLC)	Competency-Based Theology Education	Undergraduate-level program	$1700	15 weeks	$113	Minor in Theology Education, with further program components under development. Expected pace two courses (6 credits) per term.
Purdue University Global (PG, unofficially PUG)	ExcelTrack	Bachelor's, Master's	$2500	10 weeks	$250	Up to 75% of credits may be transferred in. Accepts CLEP, DSSTs, "and others". Both RA and NA prior associate's and bachelor's degrees may waive certain course requirements.
South College	Competency-based or Mastery-based	Master's, Doctorate	$6000	6 months	$231
Texas A&M University-Commerce (TAMUC)		Bachelor's	$1000	7 weeks	$143	Allowed, about 90 credits can be transferred in. Listed pricing is for Texas residents or Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma counties or parishes that border Texas only (Tuition for neighboring states depends on county/parish..) - other non-residents pay $2000 per term. NA credits accepted in transfer on a course-by-course basis.
University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI)	YourPace	Certificate, Bachelor's, Master's	$1500-$2000	8 weeks	$187-$250	90+ ACE credits allowed. Read wiki page for details. International students accepted!
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB)	MyWay	Bachelor's	$3250	24 weeks (6 months)	$125	Maximum 30% from non-degree awarding college course providers as of 2023. International students accepted as of 2023.
University of Massachusetts Global	MyPath	Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's	$3200	24 weeks	$133	Allowed, 90 maximum; possibly limited ACE list. You have to score at least 81.5% on ACE courses for transferability. Formerly Brandman University.
University of Phoenix Competency-Based (CB) and Direct Assessment (DA)	CB and DA	Bachelor's, Master's	Varies	16 weeks CB, 12 weeks DA	Varies	Varies. (Catalog)
University of Wisconsin System	Flex	Certificate, Associate's, Bachelor's	$2250	12 weeks	$188	Some CLEP exams may be accepted. Most other alternate credits, including DSSTs, not accepted. RA credit acceptance depends upon chosen program. International students acceptance might vary by program.
Walden University	Tempo Learning	Bachelor's, Master's	$2450	12 weeks (3 months)	$188	Up to 135 a total of quarter credits (90 semester credits) from non-Walden sources may be transferred in, depending on program. Max of 90 quarter credits (60 semester credits) may come from ACE/NCCRS sources.
Western Governors University (WGU)		Certificate, Bachelor's, Master's	$3300-$3845	24 weeks (6 months)	$130-$148	90 max (currently unstated on site but has been long-standing policy) International students NOT accepted with some exceptions for Canada.
Winthrop University	Elevate	Bachelor's	$1750-$3500	14 weeks (3 months)	$125-$250	Max 90 credits total transfer, 30 CLEP, 15 PLA. Other alt credit acceptance unknown.
Bottega University - NA degree, NOT RA		Certificate, Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's	$947 undergraduate, $1547 graduate	12 weeks (1 term)	$79 undergraduate, $129 graduate	Up to 4 courses per term at no additional cost; more may be possible with Academic Dean approval.
Nations University - NA degree, NOT RA		Certificate, Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate	$450	13 weeks (3 months/1 quarter)	$35	Religious degrees. NA/RA transfer credit allowed for GE requirements in bachelor degree - up to 30 in total; ACE/CLEP/NCCRS sources are not allowed.
Newlane University - NA degree, NOT RA		Associate's, Bachelor's	$40	1 month	$9 (see note)	AA in General Studies and BA in Philosophy. $1500 per degree total independent of how long a student takes. BA requires an associate's or 60 credits to enter. Students can pay $249 initial fee then $40 a month until they reach $1500. Graduation requires having paid the full $1500.
Nexford University - NA degree, NOT RA		Certificate, Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's	Varies	1 month	Varies
Western Institute for Social Research (WISR) - NA degree, NOT RA	Mastery learning	Master's, Doctorate	$8400	1 year (12 months)	$162
Snow College - Only Associate's degree	Snow Online	Associate's	$1743	16 weeks (4 months/1 semester)	$109	Allowed, no limit to number. May be limit to source. Not all CLEP exams accepted. Utah residents only - out-of-state students charged more, though scholarships may be available