Awarding continuing education units (CEUs) can offer ongoing benefits to a company, institution, or training group at relatively little cost. A company offering CEUs may be able to help employees complete their college degrees and set long-range goals. (JOW)

A project at Denman College (Great Britain) to help volunteers document their community work to get credit for a diploma encountered problems in translating community work into formalized academic definitions and in the range of skill levels among volunteers. (SK)

The Open University's Into Science is a skill-based introduction to science, math, and related subjects using open learning approaches. Flexible enough to adapt to many uses, it is also part of an accreditation scheme. (SK)

Reviews the debate over the proposed mandate that companies spend 1.5% of their payroll for training. Suggests alternatives to the training tax, such as tax credits, individual training accounts, and demonstration projects. (SK)

Unreliable assessment practices persist across the country. Regents College has reviewed over 100 randomly selected programs and created a database of assessment programs that use unreliable practices. Assessment processes and academic programs of integrity should be built on consistently valid and reliable principles. (JOW)

Explores the relationships among the number of credits earned in the first and subsequent years of enrollment, the pace at which credits are earned, and bachelor's degree attainment. (Author)

An action research method using an action-reflection spiral of development and implementation was used to create a system for accrediting prior learning in nursing education. Key stages of the system are information, advice and guidance, preparation of the claim, and assessment. (SK)

A sign of a loss of vision in adult education is disuse of the term liberal education and increasing use of the term continuous education. Mandated accreditation of adult-education courses runs counter to the tradition of liberal adult education, which is a matter of intrinsic value, not external evaluation. (SK)

A sensemaking model is used to explore the meaning of credit in British further-education colleges. Four frameworks for viewing credit are identified: national policy, college policy, professional value and identity, and student learning. (SK)

Britain's Open College Network has not had much impact on education in prisons. Reasons include lack of flexibility, currency of the qualifications, funding, and the role and function of prison education. However, recognition of prison inmates' learning is important. (SK)

Approaches to learner accreditation form a continuum ranging from institutions determining outcomes and content to empowerment of learners to use their own learning from experience in a way that meets their definition of what is credit worthy. (SK)

Responses from 213 of 259 Arkansas agriculture teachers demonstrate strong support for granting science credit for agriculture. The most powerful predictors of support were perception of student benefits, enhancement of agriculture's status, and no adverse impact on existing agriculture programs. (SK)

A survey of 14 access coordinators and 15 students in Britain's Open College Network showed that credit may be working against the spirit of support and critical inquiry that underlies access to higher education programs; 57% felt that staff, management, and employers benefit more than students from a credit framework. (SK)

Describes how Harper Community College in Illinois, partnering with its financial advisor Kane, McKenna Capital, Inc., worked to receive the best bond rating available from Moody's Investors Service, thereby saving taxpayers three million dollars. (EV)

Describes the concerns of consumer advocates regarding consumers with debt problems, the deceptive practices of some credit counseling services, and the accuracy of their advice. Recommends changes in credit counseling services and protections for consumers using them. (JOW)