Competency-Based Education
Transforming Higher Education
Through collaboration with administrators, faculty, external agencies and other universities, we support the development and growth of CBE programs at East Texas A&M, across the state and nationwide. We can assist in creating and implementing CBE programs to support Texas's higher education plan, 60x30TX. You can explore potential research collaborations that can impact the CBE field at large. Let us help support your CBE initiatives by contacting us today!
What is Competency-Based Education?
What is Competency-Based Education
Competency-Based Education (CBE) posits that learning is best measured by students demonstrating what they know and can do rather than by the number of hours spent in a classroom. CBE is student-driven and self-paced, guided by individualized feedback from an instructor and advisor. CBE is also flexible, and offered fully online, so it works around the busy personal and professional lives of adult learners and working professionals.
Back to menuCompetency Based Programs at East Texas A&M
Alternative Teacher Certification Competency-Based
Make a difference in the lives of students sooner than you might think with our fully online competency based Alternative Teacher Certification program.
Criminal Justice (BS) Law Enforcement Leadership Emphasis, Competency-Based **Ideal for students with law enforcement training**
The Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Law Enforcement Leadership (BSCJ-CJCB) at East Texas A&M University is a 100% online, competency-based program designed specifically for first responders: law enforcement, peace officers and military personnel with existing work experience, police academy training, or other certifications. Courses are offered in an accelerated format, so students can move swiftly through material they already have mastery over, and focus more attention on topics that are new and challenging to their existing knowledge base. The courses are self-paced, so students can work according to their own schedule. Students in the BSCJ-CJCB program develop practical workplace competencies that meet current and future challenges facing first responders today.
General Studies (BGS) Competency-Based
The Bachelor of General Studies competency-based degree allows you to explore your strengths and apply prior learning experiences to a degree that fits your goals. You will learn about leadership, problem-solving and design thinking while exploring career options and preparing for academic and career success.
Health Services Administration (BAAS) Competency-Based
Our BAAS program is flexible, affordable and 100 percent online. If you have earned or worked toward an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree, our innovative BAAS program will provide you with a cost-effective pathway to earning your Bachelor degree. We will accept up to 85 hours of your previous coursework from an accredited institution, which means you are only 37 hours away from earning your degree!
Human Resource Development (BAAS) Competency-Based
Develop leadership skills to become a human resource professional who prepares employees for future positions and works to develop and retain existing talent. Play a pivotal role in creating positive, productive work environments that align with the strategic goals of your organization.
Nursing (RN-to-BSN) Competency-Based
Our competency-based RN-to-BSN degree program recognizes the skills you’ve already learned as a registered nurse or student nurse. We are dedicated to helping you grow and deepen your knowledge to demonstrate competency and clinical judgment at the baccalaureate level.
Organizational Leadership (BAAS) Competency-Based
The Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Organizational Leadership (ORGL) degree is a competency-based program that prepares innovative leaders for employment in an increasingly technological and global society. This program provides opportunities for students to receive credit for what they know and can do already, allows them to accelerate completion of their degree and — because it is fully online — students are able to plan their study schedule around the rest of their day to complete the coursework.
Pride Pathway (Bachelor’s preparing for Educator Certification) Competency-Based
Public Administration, City Planning (BAAS) Competency-Based
City planning is an essential discipline within urban development, shaping the environments where we live, work and play. Develop the knowledge and skills to address the complex challenges of urbanization, from managing population growth and transportation systems to fostering community engagement and environmental stewardship.
Safety and Health (BAAS) Competency-Based
Our BAAS program is flexible, affordable and 100 percent online. If you have earned or worked toward an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree, our innovative BAAS program will provide you with a cost-effective pathway to earning your Bachelor degree. We will accept up to 85 hours of your previous coursework from an accredited institution, which means you are only 37 hours away from earning your degree!
Effective Practices in Competency-Based Education
Prerequisites for Launching
Successfully launching and maintaining an innovative program that defies some of the key elements of the traditional model requires student centricity, data-driven decision making, leadership support, flexibility and faculty involvement—among other things.
Measuring Student Success
If the field of postsecondary competency-based education is to continue growing, researchers and CBE program leaders will need to demonstrate that CBE programs fulfill core value propositions for students, including access, success, quality and affordability.
“Right on the money”
Competency-Based Education satisfies students and post-graduation outcomes. A review of existing research on CBE program outcomes provides context for the research focus of the essay.
5 Questions to Ask
East Texas A&M, CBE director details tips for a successful framework based on lessons learned from the university's successful online program.
Enabling Affordability and Success
The systems for Competency-Based Education readiness allow students to advance toward a completion goal based on their mastery of a skill or competency at their own pace. Establishing a CBE program can seem like a daunting task, but, luckily, this post contains some help!
Saving Time and Money
Competency-based education offers the opportunity to accelerate learning and thus time-to-credential through alternative pricing structures such as all-you-can-take subscription models and credit for prior learning.
EdTech and Higher Ed Manifesto
Symbiosis is possible, but edtech corporations and higher education institutions must both engage in some critical changes to allow the postsecondary space to grow to serve today's learners.
Development Framework
The Institute for Competency-Based Education has developed a framework based on the development process for the Texas Affordable Baccalaureate Program, with some additions from lessons learned post-implementation.
A topography of Texas CBE
As with the rest of the United States, interest in competency-based education to support student completion and post‐graduation success in Texas—particularly for post‐traditional students such as working adults and students with some college but no degree—has been growing steadily over the past decade.
Importance of Metrics and Data
By understanding what metrics to track (and why) right from the get-go, competency-based programs can do a better job of showing their quality while allowing for rapid growth and improvement through data-driven decision making.
Predictive Analytics & Transfer Students
The competency-based program at East Texas A&M has begun to analyze enrollment data to better understand their transfer student population and make predictions regarding future students.
Graduate Gives Thanks
Learn how competency-based education helped one Texan adult, veteran, fully-employed and grand parent achieve another important title: college graduate. Thank you to Judith Sebesta, Institute for Competency-Based Education, uninsured drivers become subject to license and vehicle registration suspension when accident damages amount to: East Texas A&M for contributing this inspiring story.
OUR MISSION
Our work is aligned directly with the mission of East Texas A&M to provide a personal, accessible and affordable educational experience for all learners, engaging in creative discovery and dissemination of knowledge and ideas related to competency-based education.
GOALS
In order to support our mission, the Institute serves as a campus, state and national collaboratory for innovation in order to:
- Assist institutions and state agencies with the development of competency-based programs.
- Work with policymakers and others to determine the effectiveness of competency-based programs.
- Share best practices in the development, implementation and study of competency-based education.
How can We help You?
We are able to help you in the following areas of competency-based education:
- Program design and development
- Training and workshops
- Speaking engagements
- Data and research
- Access to subject matter experts
- Webinars and conferences
- Other consulting services
State Of Competency-Based Education Symposium
Our state-wide symposium “State of CBE” is held yearly to help grow CBE programs and academic awareness about the growing field of CBE and its instructional methodologies. All Texas CBE programs will be encouraged to discuss their programs, their strengths, weaknesses, areas of concern and opportunities for growth. The 2021 symposium is currently under development.
Please join our email list to receive an update when more details are available. Also check out other CBE related events:
CBExchange by C-BEN
CBExchange, an annual conference hosted by C-BEN, is the foremost conference on competency-based education, where leaders from hundreds of institutions gather to learn how to build and bring to scale high-quality programs. This conference, which is dedicated 100% to CBE, will help you understand, plan or enhance competency-based education through facilitated sessions, focused on listening, learning and leading.
Fast Track to Success by CBEC
The Fast Track to Success Project is an annual conference developed around innovation in higher education. This conference will provide a forum for sharing lessons-learned, strategies, outlooks, data, pedagogy and design elements of competency-based education and other innovative models at all levels of instruction and learning in higher education.
CAEL Annual Conference
The CAEL Conference is widely known as the leading place to support adult learners through PLA and Credit for Prior Learning advancement. But it’s also a place where leaders across the work-learn-earn spectrum make necessary connections between education and career success to generate the powerful ideas that promote sustainable economic growth to transform individuals and help communities thrive.
D2L Fusion
Fusion, D2L's global learning conference, brings together education professionals every year. This is an opportunity to share, collaborate and learn from each other all the cutting-edge solutions within the education community.
Featured Institutions
These are just a few of the institutions we have partnered with to offer competency-based education pathways to their students.
C-BEN MEMBER
The Institute for Competency-Based Education is an official member of the Competency-Based Education Network. Committed to serve as an advocate for competency-based education.
Our Partners
Competency Based Education
A network of institutions, employers and experts committed to unlocking the potential of competency-based learning to ensure education and training is more flexible, responsive and valuable.
American Institute for Research
AIR is committed to increasing the effectiveness of education at all levels through rigorous research and evaluation, training and technical assistance.
Competency-Based Education Consortium
The mission of the Competency-Based Education Consortium is to share lessons learned and best practices from the field in competency-based education. In doing so, they enable post-secondary institutions to leverage CBE, paving a path from recruitment to mastery and, ultimately, employability.
Featured News
East Texas A&M Alum Named Terrell Police Chief
Chief Arley Sansom joins a growing network of East Texas A&M graduates who are leading the charge in law enforcement leadership across Texas and beyond.
Two East Texas A&M Alums Lead Major State Agencies
Both Martin and Kidd graduated from competency-based degree programs at East Texas A&M designed to help working professionals advance their careers.
Six Mount Pleasant ISD Employees Receive Scholarships for Pride Pathway at A&M-Commerce
The program addresses teacher shortages by assisting school district employees in earning their degree and teacher certification.
A&M-Commerce Offers Two New Competency-Based Degrees
The university will offer fully online bachelor's degrees aimed at city planning and human resource development
Texas A&M-Commerce Alum Leading Digital Transformation at Midland College
A&M-Commerce alum Kevin Andrews (’10) is the new executive director of Digital and Workplace Transformation at Midland (TX) College. In this newly created role, Andrews leads the Project Management Office, enterprise systems and software development, process improvement and knowledge management. These efforts aim to improve strategy implementation and organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Andrews earned a […]
A&M-Commerce and Terrell Police Department Establish Preferred Pathway for Officers to Earn Their Bachelor's Degree
Texas A&M-Commerce and the Terrell Police Department have established a preferred educational pathway for the city’s police officers to earn a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with an emphasis in law enforcement leadership. The fully online, competency-based program is offered through the College of Innovation and Design. Through the partnership, eligible officers receive direct admission […]
A&M-Commerce Criminal Justice Alum Elected as Guadalupe County Sheriff
Recent Texas A&M-Commerce alum Joshua Ray is sheriff-elect of Guadalupe County in Texas. Ray emerged victorious in the county’s Republican primary and is unopposed in the November election. A United States Marine Corps veteran and retired Texas Ranger, he served as chief deputy for the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office prior to the March primary. Ray […]
Texas A&M-Commerce Alum Named Rockport Chief of Police
The City of Rockport, Texas, named recent A&M-Commerce graduate Nathan Anderson as its new Chief of Police. Anderson—who joined the department in 2020 with 24 years of law enforcement experience—completed his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with an emphasis in law enforcement leadership through A&M-Commerce in Spring 2024. In addition to his new role, Anderson […]
A&M-Commerce and Austin Police Department Establish Preferred Path to a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice
The partnership provides automatic admission for eligible department employees to obtain a high-value degree with no out-of-pocket expense. The College of Innovation and Design at Texas A&M University-Commerce and the City of Austin, Texas, have partnered to establish a preferred pathway for Austin Police Department officers to earn their Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice […]
Blinn College and Texas A&M University-Commerce Forge New Bachelor's Degree Pathway for Safety and Health Students
Through the partnership, students can earn their AAS in Fire Safety and Health and their BAAS in Safety and Health By Blinn College District BRYAN, TEXAS: The Blinn College District and Texas A&M University-Commerce have established a new transfer agreement that will allow Blinn’s Fire Safety and Health students to transfer their credits toward a […]
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