Over the past year, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have become a popular higher education option for students across the globe, at little-to-no cost and in most cases with no available credit upon completion. On Thursday, The American Council on Education (ACE) announced their endorsement of five MOOCs for which credits could be issued, at the discretion of higher education institutions
The MOOCs, which are all in the fields of mathematics and sciences, come from three higher education institutions — Duke University, University of California at Irvine and University of Pennsylvania — who offer their MOOCs through Coursera.
All five MOOCs passed the ACE CREDIT evaluation, a credit-recommendation service run by the association. Member colleges were advised by ACE that it would be acceptable to grant credits to any student who successfully completes any of the courses.
The approval of the five courses does not guarantee students who take the Coursera MOOCs will receive credits towards a degree. It is now up to the institutions to decide how they wish to proceed.
“Ultimately, the degree-granting institution decides what credits to accept,” Cathy A. Sandeen, vice president for education attainment and innovation at ACE, told The Chronicle of Higher Education.
However, if colleges do choose to grant credits for the approved MOOCs as per ACE’s recommendations, the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Steve Kolowich predicts that MOOCs will be one step closer to becoming an integral part of the higher education system.
