Inside Higher Ed looks at a direct-assessment program NWHSU President played a key role in

Students in the aggressive form of competency-based program typically complete faster, spend less and have better retention rates than their peers, Capella says after five years of offering the so-called direct-assessment programs.

Capella University and Southern New Hampshire University were the first to successfully take the plunge with direct assessment, an aggressive form of competency-based education that is untethered from the credit-hour standard.

The U.S. Department of Education and Capella’s regional accreditor signed off on the university’s so-called FlexPath programs six years ago. About five other colleges have subsequently followed the lead of Capella and SNHU with approved direct-assessment programs of their own.

Read more about how Deb Bushway, President of Northwestern Health Sciences University, is a veteran of competency-based education and the former provost and interim president at Capella, where she played a key role in helping to create FlexPath. Click here for the full article.