Flex 2.0: What is changing, and how does it impact you?

 

Academic Calendar & Subscription Period Length

We are making a number of changes to the academic calendar to better facilitate your success. ***The timing of the calendar changes is dependent on approval of program changes by the Higher Learning Commission.

• Subscription Period Start Dates
  • Subscription periods will still start monthly, but instead of starting on the “2nd” of every month, they will always start on a Tuesday. 
  • Why the change? We learned from our surveys of students and staff that when subscription periods start on weekends or holidays, real-time support registration can be limited. Also, by always starting on a Tuesday, all key deadlines (like tuition deadlines) are always on weekdays.
• Subscription Period Breaks
  • Right now, there is only a 1-day break between subscription periods. Starting with the July, 2020 subscription period, there will be a built-in 10-day break between subscription periods.
  • Why the change? When we surveyed students last year, students strongly supported having at least a few days in between subscription periods – that way they don’t have to take a whole month off just to get a break. Now, you’ll be able to take a breather after your subscription ends (or maybe plan a short vacation) without sacrificing a whole month of progress.
• Subscription Period Length
  • Subscription period lengths will now be standardized at 81 days (11 weeks, 4 days). They’ll always start on a Tuesday, and always end on a Friday.
  • Why the change? Before, with terms based on whole months, there was a variable number of days in your subscription, depending on which month you enrolled. That commonly caused problems, especially for our students receiving financial aid. Now, all subscription periods will be the exact same length, making it easier for you to plan ahead for future terms.

Here  is a chart that summarizes how some key subscription period dates are (or aren’t) changing.

Feature	Current State	Flex 2.0 (July 2020)
Frequency of Starts	12 starts a year (monthly)	12 starts a year (monthly)
Start Dates	2nd of every month	1st or 2nd Tuesday of every month
Subscription Length	3 whole months (89 – 92 days, depending on month)	Fixed at 81 days (approximately 12 weeks) – no longer variable
Break between subscription periods	1 day	10 days
Tuition Due Date	10th day of subscription period	8th day of subscription period
Registration Deadline	10th day of subscription period (All You Can Learn can still add courses throughout subscription)	1 day prior to subscription period start (All You Can Learn can still add courses throughout subscription)
50% tuition refund period	11th-20th day of subscription period	9th-20th day of subscription period
Drop deadline without a “W”	25th day of subscription period	25th day of subscription period
Drop deadline with a “W”	15th day of 2nd month of subscription period	48th day of subscription period

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Tuition Changes

There are three major changes happening with tuition, and how you pay for your degree.

• Payment Plans (UW-Milwaukee programs only)
  • Starting with the July 2020 subscription period, eligible students will be able to sign up for a payment plan to help defray the cost of tuition across multiple payments. Check out this website for details: https://flex.wisconsin.edu/tuition-financial-aid/payment-plans-milwaukee/
  • Why the change? This is the most requested feature in the UW Flexible Option, and we’re glad to make this a reality. Payment plans can help you break up your tuition costs across payments, which means that some students may not need to take out loans. 
  • UW-Parkside programs will be getting a payment plan in the future, just not in time for the July 2020 Flex 2.0 launch.
• Tuition Rate Change 
  • The Single Course Option will be increasing from $900 to $1,125. The All-You-Can-Learn tuition will remain unchanged at $2,250.*
  • Why the change? We regularly hear from students that our tuition model was not set up to support those students who want to take just 2 courses. Affordability is still one of our key pillars, so when considering a tuition increase we made sure to keep it below the median tuition rate of comparable online programs. This new rate of $1,125 means that for a typical 3-credit course, the per-credit cost is $375. We found that the median rate of comparable online programs is just over $400 per credit hour—plus fees.*
  • *This is the first tuition change since the UW Flexible Option launched in January, 2014.
• Guaranteed Tuition Rate
  • Starting with the July, 2020 subscription period – UW Flexible Option students will have their tuition rates locked. That way, even if the institutional tuition increases in the future, you still only pay the $1,125/$2,250 rates for our two subscription options. Future students who start the program may pay a higher tuition rate if the institutional rate increases, but yours will not increase.
  • Why the change? We want you to be able to effectively plan your total educational expenses, and the guaranteed tuition rate is now a defining feature of the UW Flexible Option. Check out this website for details: https://flex.wisconsin.edu/flex-tuition-guarantee/ 

Financial Aid

In Flex 2.0, you will start a new award year.  Please make sure to complete a 2020-2021 FAFSA (https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa). A new ‘Award Letter’ will be sent to your main campus email address.  It will indicate what your next steps are.

Faculty & ASC Interactions

In Flex 2.0, you should share your academic or curricular questions directly with the faculty member of your course. You’ll no longer go through your ASC on these topics. You’ll also notice that some of your faculty will begin offering office hours, others may begin hosting optional webinars, and other faculty may reach out directly to you to check in on how your academic progress is coming.

Why the change? In our survey of all current and prior UW Flexible Option students, students were interested in more opportunities to meaningfully engage with faculty. And our faculty felt the same – they too were interested in connecting even more with their students. Your ASC isn’t going away – they’ll still remain your adviser, coach, and general support to help you maximize your success in this program.

The PR (in-progress) Grade

The PR grade is a key feature of the UW Flexible Option, and allows our students the ability to pick up their coursework right where they left off in their next subscription period. The PR grade is not going away, but there are now an additional policy around it.

Courses may need to be restarted if you enroll later than one year                            

If you earn a PR grade, you should enroll in that course within one year of earning the PR grade in order to pick up where you left off. You can still enroll in the course after one year – the faculty will evaluate your prior work and determine if your work is no longer current and if you have to start from the beginning again. For example, if you enroll in a course in January 2020, and at the end of course you earn a PR, you’ll need to re-enroll by the following January 2021 to ensure your work moves forward.

Why the change? This policy change will affect very few enrollments – nearly 99% of students with a PR grade re-enroll in that course within a year. But there have been a few who have re-enrolled in a course 2 – 3 years after earning a PR grade and they have struggled to remember what they’ve already done and their overall learning experience has suffered as a result. This policy change reflects what we’ve learned is good for student learning – and to keep you best setup for success.

Language Changes

In Flex 2.0, we’re taking steps to simplify some of our language. It will make our programming easier to understand, and more importantly, easier to navigate. Here are a few examples of language changes:

Old Term	New Term
Competency Set	Course
Competency Set Orientation Guide	Syllabus
Credit Hour Equivalent	Credit Hour
Transfer Credit Equivalency	Transfer Credit
Single Competency Set Option	Single Course Option

UW-Parkside students will still enroll in “Projects” – that term will change to “Course” at a future date.

Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education

Currently, the UW Flexible Option is called “Direct Assessment” – which is a classification for the U.S. Department of Education and our accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission. In Flex 2.0, we are changing to a new classification, called “Credit-Based” competency-based education. The core things you know about competency-based education and how you navigate our coursework won’t change. But there are a few areas this impacts your experience.  This change is pending final HLC approval. 

Why the change?  This means you are no longer earning “credit equivalents” on your transcript, but rather, you’re now earning “credits” – so this change normalizes our programs within the context of higher education at large. Since you’re earning credit hours, you can also begin to expect more ways to interact directly with your faculty (as noted above). Further, credits come with an average time expectation (the federal standard is 3 hours per week for every 1 credit hour, on average). Our programs are still going to be competency-based and go-at-your-own-pace. Some courses you may still finish quicker, and other courses you may still finish slower: however, on average, you’ll be able to reasonably expect to spend a certain amount of time with your course materials based on how many credits are assigned.

If you are receiving Federal Financial Aid, we will communicate with you individually if this change impacts you. Please know that we will take care of any financial aid costs associated with the transition.