Between 2021 and 2026, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office piloted direct assessment competency-based education (CBE) programs at eight community colleges, aiming to increase credential attainment, reduce equity gaps, and streamline student progress. This report provides findings from the eight pilot colleges and identifies broader lessons learned for systems and colleges considering direct assessment CBE programs.

Implementing Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education in Community Colleges

Findings from a Pilot in Eight California Community Colleges

Peter Nguyen, Lindsay Daugherty, Jonah Kushner

ResearchPublished May 20, 2026

Between 2021 and 2026, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office piloted direct assessment competency-based education (CBE) programs at eight community colleges, aiming to increase credential attainment, reduce equity gaps, and streamline student progress. By spring 2026, three colleges had launched programs, four were still developing programs, and one had stopped. Implementing direct assessment CBE proved complex and resource-intensive, requiring dedicated project management, cross-departmental collaboration, external technical support, and navigation of multiple approval processes.

Key facilitators included strong, cross-functional implementation teams, external funding from the system, technical assistance from consultants, peer collaboration, and open educational resources. Major barriers were limited faculty buy-in, insufficient staff time, technological challenges, and delays in accreditation and federal approvals. Colleges prioritized equity by targeting adult learners, providing proactive student supports, and aligning programs with workforce needs.

Early enrollment was low (27 students across three colleges), but participants—mostly adult learners from underrepresented groups—reported positive experiences with program structure and support. Lessons for scaling direct assessment CBE include the need for substantial up-front investment, ongoing stakeholder engagement, backward instructional design, and clear navigation of approval processes. The pilot demonstrates that, although direct assessment CBE can expand access and flexibility for students, successful implementation requires significant institutional commitment and system-level coordination.

Key Takeaways

  • Eight California community colleges joined the Direct Assessment CBE Collaborative in 2021. As of spring 2026, three colleges had launched programs, four other colleges were continuing to work toward launch, and one college had stopped implementation efforts.
  • College staff had to engage in frequent cross-campus coordination and make up-front investments to build content for their programs (i.e., competencies, assessments), modify systems and services, and train other staff.
  • Strong implementation teams had dedicated staff (e.g., project managers) and cross-department representation (e.g., faculty, information technology experts) to coordinate complex work and sustain momentum.
  • College staff relied heavily on external resources, such as funding from the community college system, external consultants, open education resources, industry standards, and examples from peer colleges, to cultivate the capacity for implementing direct assessment CBE programs.
  • Accreditor and federal approval processes, limited faculty buy-in, insufficient staff time, and limited technological capacities hindered implementation and contributed to delays.
  • Colleges centered equity in the implementation of direct assessment CBE by focusing on adult learners, incorporating proactive supports for students, and ensuring that programs provided clear pathways to the workforce.
  • Early enrollment in the three launched programs was low, but survey respondents generally reported positive experiences with program design and support.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: Chancellor's Office, California Community Colleges
  • Publisher: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Year: 2026
  • Pages: 24
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RRA4415-1
  • Document Number: RR-A4415-1

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Nguyen, Peter, Lindsay Daugherty, and Jonah Kushner, Implementing Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education in Community Colleges: Findings from a Pilot in Eight California Community Colleges. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4415-1.html.
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This work was sponsored by the Foundation for California Community Colleges and conducted in the Education and Employment Program of RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.

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