Mission Statement

Board for State Academic Awards & Charter Oak State College

The Board for State Academic Awards provides diverse and alternative opportunities for adults to earn degrees. The Board accomplishes its mission through Charter Oak State College and the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium. Relying on the judgment of professional educators, the Board validates learning acquired through examinations, independent study, work experience, non-collegiate-sponsored instruction, technology-mediated learning, and traditional study, including Charter Oak courses. The Board seeks to:

Offer coherent, college-level curricula and degree programs which incorporate transfer credit, examinations, and other methods of credit and competency validation;

Develop valid and reliable tests and other methods to evaluate and assess experiential and extra-collegiate learning as alternatives to classroom study;

Provide access to and offer educationally sound learning experiences, including courses, through a variety of means such as video, computer-mediated and other electronically mediated technologies;

Inform and guide the public about opportunities for earning credentials by alternative means;

Provide testing and credit registry services, and information regarding such services, to the public;

Extend access to higher education to all adults who demonstrate the ability to perform on the collegiate level and to foster the enrollment and graduation of diverse populations; and

Encourage innovation in meeting the needs of adult learners and to serve as an advocate for adult learners in higher education.

In all of its activities, the Board for State Academic Awards rigorously upholds standards of high quality and seeks to inspire adults with the self-enrichment potential of nontraditional higher education.