学位研 究 第9号 平成10年10月 (論文) [学位授与機構研 究紀要]
TheStatusQuooftheExtemalDegreeSystemsintheUnitedStates 米国における学外学位制度の現状
又ieMORI 森 利枝
ResearchinAcademicDegrees,No.9(October,1998) lthearticle] TheJournalofNationalInstitutionforAcademicDegrees
TheStatusQuooftheExternalDegreeSystems intheUnitedStates
又ieMORI*
Introduction
Thispaperisbasedontheresultsofasurveype血 m edtodeteminethecum ntSituationof implementationofexternaldegreeprogramsintheU.S. ThisquestionnaireandcatalogsuⅣeywas plannedbyProfessorAkiraTachiinlate1994asapartofresearchactivitiesofNationalInstitution forAcademicDegrees,andcarriedoutwiththecooperationofAs sociateProfessorMariIke. Mori participatedinthisprqjectin1995.
FirstofallinthispaperWewillshow thesimplestmctureofthispaper･Inthispaperタafter attemptingadefinitionofanexternaldegree,IwillglVeanOutlineandanalysisofthecurrent situationofextemaldegreeprogramsintheU･S･basedontheresultsofthissuⅣey,withthegoalof providinganunderstandingofthoseprogramsingeneral･
I･DefinitionofanExternalDegree
ThispaperdealswithexternaldegreeprogramsintheU.S. Beforebeginnlngthediscussion,it maybenecessarytodefinetheterm .'externaldegreeprogram.lf A definitionofextemaldegreesin theU.S.hasalreadybeengiveninapaperbyTachi(1994),alongwiththecourseoftheseprograms' emergence･Toavoidexcessiveduplication,thispaperwillrefertothedefhitionsofexternaldegrees whicharefわundintwomaterialsotherthanTachi‑S.Oneis‑'CollegeHandbook''issuedbytheU･S･
CollegeBoard,whichservedasanimportantreferenceinthissurvey,andtheotheris..HowtoEarna CollegeDegreeWithoutGoingtoCollegel'byJ.P.Duffy.
First,Iwouldliketorefertothe''CollegeHandbook.''Itdefinesextemaldegreeprogramsas'●A system ofstudywherebyastudenteamscredittowardadegreethroughindependentstudy,college courses,proficiencyexaminations,andpersonalexperience"Italsostatesthat"Externaldegree collegesgenerallyhavenocampusesorclassroomfacilities一一(TheCollegeBoard,1995,p.30).
*ResearchFellow,NationalInstitutionforAcademicDegrees
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Wemayneedtotakeacloserlookat"independentstudy,''oneofthetermsusedinthisdefinition.
Ofcourse,acommentthat"alllearninglSindividualf'seemstobeacceptableasavalidstatement･ Basedonthisobservation,whichcouldbetermedabasicprlnCipleoflearning,however,Iwouldlike topursueapractical answertothequestionofwhatconstitutesindependentstudyasawayof 一一breakingdownunifbmityofinstnlCtion一一(Romiszowski,1995,p.2770).
lntheCollegeHandbook,whichismentionedabove,independentstudyisexplainedas"An arrangementthat allows students to complete some of their college program by studying independentlyinsteadofattendingscheduledclassesandcompletinggroupasslgnmentS･Typically, Studentsplanprogramsofstudyinconsultationwithfacultyadvisororcommittee,towhom theymay reportperiodicallyandsubmitafinalreportforevaluation"(TheCollegeBoard,1995,p.31).The InternationalEncyclopediaofHigherEducationdescribesthespecificformatsofindependentstudyas follows:..Correspondencestudy,homestudy,openanddistanceeducation,radioeducation,television teachinginfactallformsofmediatedinstructionbelongtoalarger,geneticclassthatintheUnited Statesisincreasinglyreferenttoasindependentstudy"(Wedemeyer,1977,p.2114).
Basedonthesedescriptions,itcan beconcludedthatindependentstudyconsistsofstudyprograms whicharenexiblebothintermsoftimeandintermsoflocation,withthefollowlngCharacteristics:
[1] Studentsarenotrequiredtoattendlecturesinafixedclassroom.
[2] Studentsarenotrequiredtostudywithinafixedtimeperiod.
Toexpressthesecharacteristicsinotherwords,independentstudy isfreeoftheconceptof
lresidence'whichestablishestemporalandspatialrestrictionsonstudy. Inotherwords,thismeans thatindependentstudyprogramsare■nonresidential‑programs.
Toreturntoourearlierdefinitionsofextemaldegreesbasedontheabove,studytowardanextemal degree,initsentirety,isrichinelasticityasitcombinesconventional,rigidstudyformatswiththe f
lexible study formats of independentstudy,includhg ''independent study,college courses, achievementtests,andpersonalexperience.'.
Next,WeturntothedefinitionofextemaldegreesfoundinDuffy'sguideforstudents,'THow to Earn aCollegeDegreeWithoutGoingtoCollege." Inthisbook,Duffypointsoutthattheterms usedasnamesf♭rnon‑traditionalprogramsoperatedbyvariousuniversitiesarenotnecessarilybased onclearstandards. HemakesthefollowlngStatementCOnCernlngexternaldegreeprograms: 一一this bookdrawsanarbitrarylinebetweencollegedegreeprogramsthatarejustifablyentitledtothename extemaldegreeprogramsandthosethatarenontraditionalbutnotstrictlyexternal.Thedifference betweenthesetwoclassi瓜Cationsistheamountoftimeaparticipantisrequiredtospendinclass,or
"inresidence'.AIfthetimeoneisrequiredtospendattheschooliseitherofshortdurationorcanbe
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amngedtosuittheschedulesofmostworkingpeople,thatprogramisincludesinthisbook‑'(D岬 y, 1994,p.19).
Here,twoconclusionsmaybedrawnfrom thesestatementsofDuffyfs. First,theconceptof residencylSafundamentaloneinextemaldegreeprograms,andaprogram whichrequlreSreSidency isalsocalledanexternaldegreeprogram ifthetimeperiodresidencyisshort. As discussedearlier, thisstandardsetbyDuffyisalsorecognizedintheCollegeHandbookasoneofthecharacteristicsof externaldegreeprograms.An dsecond,itisapparentthatdefiningextemaldegreeprogramsisnotan easytask･ An otherslgnOfthisdifficultyIsthattheCollegeHandbook'sdefinitionofexternal degreescannotnecessarilybesaidtoglVeaStrictindicationoftheactualmeanlngOfant'extemal degree･''Whatmakesitsodifficulttodefheexternaldegreeprograms?
Onepossiblereasonforthedifficultyofdefiningexternaldegreeprogramscouldbethatextemal degreeprogramsareessentiallyapartofthenon‑traditional highereducationsystem,andtherefore theyconstituteoneofthealternativestotraditionalhighereducation. As indicatedbytheprefix ''non‑''andthewordTlaltemative;'thecharacteristicsofextemaldegreeprogramsarenotdescribedin affirmativestatements(''Theyare..."),butincollectionsofnegativesentencessuchas"Theyare not･･)tornTheyaredifferentfrom ...." Withaffirmativestatements,itispossibletospecifya phenomenoninlimitativeterms;however,innegativestatements,thephenomenonindicatedbythe statementcanbeinfinitelyvastinscope.Itseemslikelythatthisisthemainobstacletoastrict definitionofexternaldegreeprograms･
ThefollowlnglSareportOfthesurveyconcemlngthepresentsituationofexternaldegreeprograms intheU･S･,basedontheassumptionabove･
II.TheSurvey
Thissurveywasperformedbeginnlngin1994.Thebasicreferencematerialusedinthesurvey wastheCollegeHandbook(1993edition)issuedbytheCollegeBoard,asmentionedabove. The methodusedwastoinvestigatethesituationofthegranting ofexternaldegreesbymailinga questionnairetoal]ofthe170schoolslistedinthisbookasuniversitieslorcolleges]whichgrant external degrees. Allofthese170schoolswhichwerethesubjectsofthesurveyareaccreditedas officialdegree‑grantinginstitutionsbysomeaccreditationorganizationintheuS. Alongwiththe questionnaire,arequestforinformationaboutexternaldegreeprogramswassenttoeachschool･ Fromthestageofplanningthroughexecution,thismailsurveywasperformedundertheleadershipof ProfessorAkiraTate. TherequestletterusedinthesurveylSincludedattheendofthisreportas Appendixl･
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