Adam Bush, provost of College Unbound, and Dennis Littky, president, have an ambitious goal: to remake higher education for the millions of Americans with some college credit but no degree. 

College Unbound’s journey through the triad of state, federal, and peer review has taken half a decade—and underscores the challenges that innovative institutions face in a system set up for traditional colleges. It also offers evidence that the gatekeepers of American higher education are becoming more open to experimentation.

In early December, one small liberal arts school in Kentucky bet big on a new scholarship. Georgetown College, a nearly 200-year-old Christian institution, promised four years of free undergraduate tuition to students from several nearby counties if they enrolled full time and lived on campus. 

Georgetown is just one of many small liberal arts colleges rolling out new scholarship programs or heavily discounting their tuition. Such strategies are designed to increase enrollment, but some say they could cause more harm than good if they don't bring in enough additional students to make up for lost tuition revenue.