Proficiency-Based Education is a contemporary instructional model that grew out of the competency-based education movement of the 1980's and 90's. It is based on the premise that TIME is flexible and that students work at their own pace until they have mastered necessary content and skills. As students demonstrate proficiency, then move on to more challenging content or higher levels of skill performance. This model is seen as replacing the old Carnegie Unit plan where students earned high school credits for "seat time," the amount of time they spent studying specific content, rather than their mastery of it. Widely supported by business and legislative interests, this model is seen as more efficient, more equitable, and, ultimately, more economical since it eliminates the need for expensive remedial programs in higher education settings. (Contains 11 online resources.)