U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) today released the following statement praising unanimous passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of H.R.3136, the Advancing Competency-based Education Demonstration Project Act:

“We commend our colleagues in the House for their unanimous, bipartisan support of the Advancing Competency-based Education Demonstration Project Act. Competency-based education has the potential to notably cut costs and time needed to obtain a degree, especially for students who already possess the right skills and knowledge based on prior experience. We urge the Senate to take note of the strong bipartisan support the competency-based education demonstration project received in the House, and act swiftly to pass a competency-based demonstration project.”

The measure, which passed the House by a vote of 414-0 on Wednesday, July 23, 2014, is aimed at addressing an innovation gap that exists across the nation’s higher education institutions by directing the Secretary of Education to implement competency-based education demonstration projects.

In June, Bennet and Isakson introduced companion legislation to H.R.3136, S.2513, the Advancing Competency-based Education Demonstration Project Act of 2014, which has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.