NASSAU, BAHAMAS — University of The Bahamas (UB) has forged a partnership with Saylor Academy, an open access education provider, to increase pathways to higher learning and professional development.
UB has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saylor under which UB will accept transfer credits from courses offered by Saylor that have been reviewed and recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE).
ACE is a US non-profit organization that assesses courses for collegiate level accreditation.
Increasing access to higher learning is one of the pillars of UB’s mission and the institution has been expanding its partner academic institutions in fulfilment of that mission.
UB Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr Maria Oriakhi affirmed the high priority that the institution places on this mandate.
“UB has been aggressive in its approach to expand access to educational experiences in other institutions outside the country to our students to allow them the opportunity to broaden their worldview and perspectives,” said Oriakhi.
“We believe that it is critical for the next generation to be able to operate in a global society and have the necessary international framework to solve the problems of tomorrow.”
Preparing students for better lives in a global society is the university’s value proposition.
Increasing student enrollment, retention and ultimately persistence to graduation is integral to the university’s success as an institution, according to the UB 2019-2024 Strategic Plan. The goal is to have that increase reflected in both undergraduate and graduate programme enrollment.
Based in Washington, DC, Saylor Academy offers nearly 100 full-length, self-paced courses at the college and professional levels.
Under the MOU, UB has provided Saylor with a list of course equivalencies indicating the maximum number of transfer credits allowed from non-collegiate credit providers such as Saylor.
The agreement with Saylor is one of nine forged with partner institutions around the globe over the past academic year, increasing the university’s capacity to provide world-class education to many more students around the world.