Under Secretary of Education Visits the College with No Campus
Department of Education Under Secretary Martha Kanter Says College Program for Nation’s Workforce Is a “Pioneer”
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE (June 21, 2013) – Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter paid a visit to the offices of Anthem Blue Cross, where she met with workers from across the region who are enrolled in College for America – a new kind of online college built on demonstrated competency and tailored specifically to the needs of working adult students.
After meeting these working learners, Under Secretary Kanter met with the College for America leadership team. “I’m very excited about this,” Kanter said. “College for America is a pioneer… you are creating new paths to education that we have not seen in the past.”
Established in 2012 with support from an EDUCAUSE Next Generation Learning Challenge grant, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, College for America is a highly affordable, online college degree program designed for adult, working students. The program is a pioneer in awarding degrees for competency instead of credit hours, and is the first competency-based degree to be approved by the United States Department of Education for Title IV student aid eligibility.
College for America was developed by the Innovation Lab at Southern New Hampshire University, one of the top five providers of online degrees in the United States and a recognized leader in innovation. Paul LeBlanc, the president of the university, led the development of College for America to diminish the major barriers – skyrocketing costs and declining accessibility – that keep working adults from acquiring the college-level knowledge and skills they need to succeed in today’s work environment.
“If we are going to educate the middle class, traditional college is only going to serve so many of them,” Kanter said. “This is practical; this is business oriented; this is citizenship oriented… College for America is great opportunity to move families forward… and our workforce forward.”
The new program – available to students only through their employers – is already in place with many employers across the country, including ConAgra, McDonald’s, Delta Dental, and FedEx.
For more information, visit http://www.collegeforamerica.org.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Stinson Liles
(901) 522-9242
stinson@reddeluxe.com
Martha Rush-Mueller
(603) 314-1464
martha@collegeforamerica.org
Established in 2012 with support from an EDUCAUSE Next Generation Learning Challenge grant, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, College for America is a highly affordable, online college degree program designed for adult, working students. The program is a pioneer in awarding degrees for competency instead of credit hours, and is the first competency-based degree to be approved by the United States Department of Education for Title IV student aid eligibility. Learn more at www.collegeforamerica.org.
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