ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University will launch a transformative, proven approach to adult and professional learning with a new Competency-Based Education (CBE) modality, entitled Elevate*, in January 2025.
This new modality will provide a unique and flexible approach to higher education that allows students to advance through their coursework based on the ability to master a skill or competency at their own pace.
The first degree program to be offered through this innovative modality is the Bachelor of Professional Studies which includes four concentration options: health informatics, organizational leadership, organizational operations, and community and health services.
Additional programs will follow.
“Winthrop Elevate aligns with best practice for serving professionals, adult learners, military and veterans. Self-directed and self-paced, it’s the kind of program I would have loved 20 years ago,” said Winthrop President Edward Serna ’02. “Competency-based education will give our adult students the opportunity to save money and accelerate their college degree, all without sacrificing any academic rigor.”
Spearheaded by Winthrop’s recently renamed School of Graduate, Continuing, and Online Education, the CBE modality will be offered at a 14-week subscription rate of $1,750 for part-time status or $3,500 for full-time status. This pricing structure will allow adult students to complete a degree at almost half the cost of a traditional, four-year degree.
Jack DeRochi, dean of the School of Graduate, Continuing, and Online Education, described this new approach to learning as an academic engine that delivers programs professionals in the region need. “There are over 95,000 working adults in Winthrop’s surrounding counties and more than 500,000 in the state who do not have a four-year college degree. We are excited to be the first program that serves these students and their needs,” said DeRochi.
“The beauty of this approach is that adult learners can demonstrate their high mastery of content and accelerate their degree completion, making it a much more affordable and faster way to earning a college degree,” he noted.
The university is looking to partner with local businesses and industries who want to provide their employees with the opportunity to finish a four-year college degree.
Elevate also allows learners to stack credentials, which is useful to those who may not want to pursue entire degrees. “Sometimes students want to only develop certain skill sets or competencies, such as professional communications or competencies in financial management because of their current work project or position. This model of instruction allows Winthrop to help those students receive that targeted professional development,” added DeRochi.
Winthrop’s Bachelor of Professional Studies degree, which was originally offered as an in-person program for adult learners, was the natural choice as the first program to debut under Winthrop Elevate. Martha Selmon, a 2023 graduate of the program, had this to say about the degree program: “I loved how they treated me at Winthrop. The culture at Winthrop is fantastic, and it is a military-friendly school that knows about helping students utilize their GI Bill benefits. I want to encourage traditional students and non-traditional adult learners to pursue and finish their degrees. It is never too late, and I want to remind everyone that you CAN do anything that you set your mind to, especially with the support that Winthrop offers their students.”
For more information on Winthrop Elevate and Competency-based Education, visit www.winthrop.edu/elevate or contact Hunter Huggins, recruitment and communications coordinator, at 803/323-2204 or e-mail elevate@winthrop.edu.
*Pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
