Some colleges plan to offer credit to transfer students for some MOOCs

The University of Maryland University College and several other institutions expect to begin awarding transfer credit to those who have taken — and can prove they learned from — certain "massive open online courses," known as MOOCs. The Baltimore Sun says the higher-education institutions have agreed to track student progress as part of a research study gauging how well the MOOCs prepared the students for a more traditional learning experience. Other schools taking part in the study: the University of Illinois Springfield; Central Michigan University; Western Carolina University; State University of New York Empire State College; Kaplan University; American Public University; and Regis University.