Revisiting the Carnegie Unit Education Writer’s Association May 2014

The Best Measure We Have? 2 The Carnegie Unit, or credit hour, is a common standard, language, and currency in American education. It is efficient for administration, ubiquitous in policy and practice, remarkably durable, and deeply engrained in education.

3 It is also a flawed proxy for student learning.

Pensions for Professors 4 “I have reached the conclusion that the least rewarded of all the professions is that of the teacher in our higher educational institutions... I have, therefore, transferred to you and your successors, as Trustees, $10,000,000… to provide retiring pensions for the teachers of universities, colleges and technical schools...” - Andrew Carnegie, April 16, 1905

Standards for Higher Education “An institution to be ranked as a college, must have at least six professors giving their entire time to college and university work, a course of four full years in liberal arts and sciences, and should require for admission, not less than the usual four years of academic or high school preparation, or its equivalent.” -First Annual Report of Carnegie Foundation,

Standards for High School “College entrance requirements are designated in terms of units, a unit being a course of five periods weekly throughout an academic year of the preparatory school…14 units constitute the minimum amount of preparation.” -First Annual Report of the Carnegie Foundation, First Annual Report of CF 6

The Unit Spreads Fast and Far Within a decade, the Carnegie Unit becomes the foundation for high school and college standards across the country. By mid-century, the Unit is deeply embedded in: – Federal Financial Aid—Post GI Bill, linked to Title IV funds – Federal reporting—by 1960s, federal data on higher education centered on the credit hour – State budget formulas—as higher education expands to multi-campus systems – Institutional faculty work-load, student admissions, transfer and degree requirements, and more… 7

New Landscape for Change  Outcomes-based accountability pressures—from regulatory bodies, consumers and industry  Completion agenda—more students to serve overall, including adult “working learners” and military  Cost crisis—rising institutional costs, tuition and student debt  Advancing technology and learning science 8

Policy Responses Federal endorsement of degree programs that do not rely on credit hour, and approval of first degree program—SNHU’s College for America— to use direct assessment instead of time-based measure of progress. Proposed changes to accreditation system Federal programs to link high school to career and college—career academies, dual-enrollment, and early college programs. K-12 and higher education on parallel tracks? 9

What’s Coming  Emerging standards of learning  New models for measurement (e.g. direct assessment), and new designs (flexible, self- paced, online)  An improvement approach to testing and improving models 10

Contact Elena Silva Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching DC Office 901 E Street, NW Washington, DC