Competence-based education is defined and described as a system, and reference is made to its application to undergraduate education in public administration. Competence-based education emphasizes an integration of theory and practice in learning and curriculum and the organization of educational goals into explicit outcomes. The attainment of educational goals serves as the basis of the learning, assessment, and credentialing process. Competence-based education as a system seeks to teach those competences that are required in the real world. The three critical ingredients for an effective competence-based educational program are goal clarification, operational specification, and assessment. From the field of public administration there have been warnings against overdefinition, since the professional abilities needed in public administration tend to be analytical/integrative. Five benefits of competency-based education are discussed. (SW)