UExcel^® in the News

For Immediate Release:

3 June 2011

OpenCourseWare and Credit-by-Examination: a Perfect Blend for Earning College Credit

What is OpenCourseWare?
OpenCourseWare (OCW) are university self-study courses that are available to the public without charge via the Internet.

What is Credit-by-Examination?
Traditionally, credit-by-examination (CBE) is a process for ascertaining student knowledge and awarding credit for college-level subjects—regardless of how that knowledge was gained—by taking an exam. Examination scores are provided to a student’s college of choice for evaluation and potential awarding of advanced placement or credit. CBE has been in existence for more than forty years and is becoming a popular option for students of all ages.

By using OCW to learn subject matter and credit-by-examination to demonstrate knowledge in a particular subject, individuals can save significant time and money while working toward a college degree.

About OpenCourseWare
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), developer of the most well-known OCW program, is the driving force behind the OpenCourseWare (OCW) Consortium. The OCW Consortium is a worldwide community which includes Yale University, University of Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and hundreds of other globally renowned universities that have made courses available online.

Course materials are posted using a variety of learning platforms including syllabi, written documents, audio and video lectures, lesson notes, reading lists, assignments and even exam papers on the Web. In addition to English, many of the courses are available in a variety of languages.

Through OpenCourseWare, anyone with access to the Internet has the opportunity to listen to and watch lectures delivered by distinguished educators, independently complete class assignments, network with other students from around the world, and view actual exam questions used by instructors to test course knowledge—all at no cost to the student.

Earning College Credit
Although OpenCourseWare allows students access to university-level courses from prominent institutions, work is not graded and the institutions do not award course credit or provide a degree or certification. Therefore, in order to earn college credit, a student must take, and pass a test through a credit-by-exam program.

However, it is important to know that only one lower-level CBE program, UExcel^®, awards actual college credit. UExcel reports letter grades and credits earned by examination on an official transcript from Excelsior College, one of America’s leading distance education institutions. Transcripts can then be sent to a student’s college or university of choice. UExcel is the only lower-level CBE option to offer this service. All other CBE testing organizations issue a transcript containing only a test score—not actual college credit.

UExcel was jointly created by two renowned educational entities— Pearson and Excelsior College. Pearson is a global leader in developing educational products for children, schools, universities, adults and corporations. Excelsior College is an accredited, nonprofit distance education institution with nearly 40 years of experience offering CBE and online education programs. In addition, all UExcel exams have been reviewed by the American Council on Education (ACE), the leading coordinating body for all higher education institutions in the United States. The ACE College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT) has evaluated and made college credit recommendations for all UExcel exams which can be used for transfer credit at a university.

Use OpenCourseWare to Study For a UExcel Exam
There are significant benefits to using OpenCourseWare to study for a UExcel exam:

1. OCW consists of defined, university-level courses, created by respected educators.
2. Students can choose the teaching styles that best help them learn, and then demonstrate their knowledge by taking the exam when they are ready.
3. Combining OCW with UExcel saves a significant amount of money, as OpenCourseWare is offered completely free-of-charge to anyone with Internet access.
4. There is no interruption to work schedules as OCW is available anytime a student has an opportunity to view or read course materials.
5. Students can interact with other learners studying the same course material by taking advantage of the social networking opportunities provided by the OCW’s Next Generation Initiatives.

In a letter to students on the OCW Consortium website, Cecilia d’Oliveira, Executive Director of MIT OpenCourseWare, explains the value of OCW this way:

“Through OCW, we provide an opportunity for [students] to enrich their minds and improve their lives. In the past ten years, we estimate that MIT OpenCourseWare materials have reached 100 million individuals around the world. Forty-three percent of those accessing our site are independent learners, many of whom are unable to pursue formal education due to cost or personal circumstance.“

By blending the quality learning OpenCourseWare provides with college credit earned by demonstrating acquired knowledge with the UExcel credit-by-exam program, students around the world now have a cost-saving opportunity to enrich their minds, improve their lives AND accelerate the path to a college degree.

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