About 12 million students in the United States are enrolled in "for credit" higher education programs leading to a bachelor, associate, or other degree. Six million more are enrolled in college programs, mostly in community colleges, that are "non-credit," with course completion not contributing toward a degree. Tens of millions of other adult learners are engaged in some type of measurable educational experience that is not part of the for-credit system. This emergence of non-traditional educational experiences, closely connected to the growth of lifelong learning and distance education, presents new challenges for record keeping in education. This grant supports a project at the Community College Research Center of Teachers College that will coordinate an examination of issues associated with non-credit offerings as they impact students, employers, and education providers. The project was initiated by two consortia concerned with workforce preparation in community colleges, the National Council for Workforce Education and the National Council on Continuing Education and Training. Consider, for example, the standard college transcript with its emphasis on the accumulation of course credits and grades. The learning experiences of a large number of today's students, especially at community colleges, who do not attend full-time, frequently attend more than one institution, and often are enrolled in "non-credit" programs, are less suited for recording on such a traditional transcript. The project will conduct a survey of how 20 community colleges are handling non-credit education. How non-credit workforce development is organized and delivered and how it is regulated and accredited are among questions to be studied. The project will culminate in a report and national conference. Project Director: Professor Thomas Bailey, Institute for Education and the Economy.

To identify and organize data on higher education outside the credit-based system, including programs by providers other than colleges and universities. Project Director: Professor Kevin Kinser, Department of Educational Administration and Policy Studies.