BOULDER, Colo., June 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- College Choices for Adults (www.collegechoicesforadults.org), an information-rich, online resource that helps adult learners make informed choices about Web-based, competency-based, and other distance education programs,  is pleased to announce the addition of new data to its website,  which features program-level information from a variety of institutions, including statements about what students will learn in each program, how each program measures what students learn, and how recent students performed on those measures.

A new member, Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS, has joined the initiative and published institutional and program data on the Website.  Additionally, new program data and updated institutional data have been added to many of the existing institutional profiles.  The College Choices for Adults site was created by the national Transparency by Design (TBD) initiative, which works to further transparency and accountability in distance higher education.

College Choices for Adults offers definite advantages for institutions, and participation is not difficult. "Completing the data requirements for College Choices for Adults was very straightforward," says Dr. Chris Crawford, assistant provost for quality management at Fort Hays State University. "The data parameters make sense for us as an institution, and more importantly, we believe that the data reported will resonate with the students we are trying to serve."

About Transparency by Design, WCET, and Lumina Foundation for Education

Transparency by Design (www.transparencybydesign.org), funded by a grant from Lumina Foundation for Education and annual dues from member institutions, calls for regionally accredited, adult-serving institutions which offer some or all programs at a distance or online to commit to increasing the number of adult learners who find success in higher education by providing an unprecedented level of data to inform college choice.  A list of participating institutions and information on joining the initiative can be found at www.transparencybydesign.org.

WCET (www.wcet.info) is a cooperative network of member institutions and organizations that provides a leading source of critical thinking and expertise on the evolving role of technology in higher education. WCET, a division of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, has a long-standing tradition of involvement with quality assurance, having been an integral part of the Best Practices for Electronically-offered Degree and Certificate Programs, written with the Council of Regional Accrediting Agencies, and also a partner with the Campus Computing Survey in administering the first "Managing Online Programs" survey.

Lumina Foundation for Education (www.luminafoundation.org) is committed to enrolling and graduating more students from college — especially low-income students, students of color, first-generation students, and adult learners. The organization's goal is to increase the percentage of Americans who hold high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by 2025. Lumina pursues this goal in three ways: by identifying and supporting effective practice, through public policy advocacy, and using communications and convening power to build public will for change.

SOURCE Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education