Topic > The pros and cons of competency-based higher education

First, not all students will benefit from this type of learning. Second, Johann N. Neem (2013) argues that CBE “makes sense for those professional fields… where the primary goal is certification.” He goes on to state that the purpose of education “is not to train but to change people, and that takes time” (Neem, 2013). Another concern is the quality of instruction expressed by faculty members and the missing element of classroom participation and discussion (Kamenetz, 2013), which has been shown to enhance learning. In addition to the concerns, there are many challenges to implementing CBE across all colleges and universities that are on the foundation of the American higher education system. The first is the Carnegie Unit, which is time-based and provides a basis for awarding financial aid to students (Silva et al, 2015). The second is the complexity of redesigning the curriculum into interrelated skills and the problem of identifying these skills in the current diverse educational landscape (Silva et al,