The debates around the term “noncredit” for courses that don’t carry academic credit isn’t likely to end any time soon.
The folks responsible for noncredit offerings often object, rightly, that the term “noncredit” defines the courses by what they are not. (In my postmodernist days, I would have argued that that’s a feature of language generally, but that isn’t terribly helpful here.) The label implicitly defines credit-bearing classes as normal and implies that everything else is, well, everything else. It also doesn’t make much sense to people who aren’t acculturated into academia.
The term encompasses several species of courses. It applies to workforce-oriented training, such as courses in QuickBooks or writing business plans. But it also applies to Adult Basic Education, which is instruction in the fundamentals of reading and math, and to “personal enrichment” classes, such as bus trips to plays or museums. Each of those serves a different group of students and defines success differently. A course leading to a Microsoft certification would measure success differently than a course in flower arranging or one in entry-level ESL. The one thing they have in common is that they don’t carry degree credit.
