Launched in 2014, Open College at Kaplan University (OC@KU) introduced a groundbreaking model for higher education: integrating open courses and learning resources into affordable, individualized degree pathways. The first initiative of its kind, OC@KU empowers learners to chart their own path by combining open educational resources, life and work experience, and traditional coursework into a flexible, competency-based program.
“OC@KU is a learning concierge service that adds a new dimension to higher education, removing the barriers between formal and informal learning,” said Dr. Peter Smith, founding President.
At the heart of OC@KU is its Individualized Learning Plan (ILP). Guided by faculty mentors, students identify open courses—developed in-house and aligned with for-credit undergraduate classes—that help them build the competencies required for their degree. Learners can explore courses at their own pace, often at little or no cost, and then choose to apply those courses toward a formal degree program. By partnering with open course providers, assessment organizations, and internal course developers, OC@KU creates a comprehensive ecosystem of support.
The impact has been recognized nationally. In an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education, For-Profit Giant Starts Competency-Based ‘Open College’ (Blumenstyk, October 3, 2014), OC@KU was described as a response to “the growing interest in competency-based education and a concern among many higher-education experts about the absence of tools to help people, especially adults, find more economical and efficient pathways to degrees and careers.”
By bridging open learning with accredited degree programs, OC@KU demonstrates how higher education can evolve into a next-generation model—one that reduces costs, increases flexibility, and validates learning wherever it occurs.
