Franklin Pierce Participating in ACE Initiative to Help Nontraditional Learners Gain College Degrees
Oct 21, 2015
Franklin Pierce University has joined the Alternative Credit Project,™ a groundbreaking initiative by the American Council on Education (ACE) to boost the ability of millions of nontraditional learners to gain a college degree.
The 111 low or no-cost, lower-division general education online courses were submitted by a group of non-accredited course providers chosen to participate in the Alternative Credit Project. Franklin Pierce University, along with the 39 other colleges, universities and systems taking part in the project, has agreed to grant credit for a large number of these courses, which include disciplines such as business, critical thinking and writing, foreign language, humanities, mathematics and natural and physical sciences.
“Franklin Pierce is committed to contributing to increasing the number of college graduates. Formal education is just one of the avenues, " said Maria R. Altobello, Dean of the College of Graduate and Professional Studies at Franklin Pierce University. "Granting credit for training and life experience are effective ways to recognize knowledge gained outside of the classroom."
“The Alternative Credit Project takes into account these learning opportunities that benefit adult learners and nontraditional students.” “This is an important step for an initiative that already has significantly increased our body of knowledge about the most effective ways to increase the number of Americans able to earn a college degree or credential by using education, training and life experiences gained outside a formal classroom,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad.
“Nontraditional students who often are balancing multiple family and career demands now know where they can turn to take courses that will help them reduce the time and expense required to gain a postsecondary degree or credential at a number of outstanding institutions,” said Deborah Seymour, ACE assistant vice president for education attainment and innovation.
ACE will be collecting anonymized data from Franklin Pierce University and the other participating institutions regarding the number of credits each institution accepts through this project as well as progress and success rates of students who transfer in consortium-approved courses.
The project is made possible by a $1.89 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
