Prior Learning Assessment for Academic Credit

Prior learning assessment is a method by which students can gain recognition and college credit for what they have learned outside a traditional classroom. In order to grant credit for such learning, all of the following criteria must be met:

• It must be college level
• It must be applicable in more than one instance or environment
• It must be in a content area that is normally taught at a college or university
• It must be able to be validated
• It must be current (not obsolete)
• It must be relevant to the student's degree program
• It must not duplicate credit that has already been earned

There are many different ways to assess learning. We have liberal transfer policies that recognize CLEP and DANTES exams as well as ACE recommendations for military training and experience and civilian training that has been evaluated by ACE.

The PLA program is available only to undergraduate students. At this time, there are no plans to make the program available to graduate students.

Students seeking credit via portfolio assessment must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be a fully matriculated student (completed our application and orientation process and have a student ID number)
• Have completed or received transfer credit for basic English Composition (ENGL101)
• Have completed or received a waiver for Foundations of Online Learning (COLL100)
• Have received a completed Transfer Credit Evaluation (TCE) from the our Transfer Credit department, if the student has credit to transfer
• Have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 for university courses taken to date, and not be on academic probation
• Have not applied for graduation (such students are too far along in the academic career to receive academic credit via PLA)

A portfolio is course-specific. Whereas CLEP/ DANTES exams and ACE recommendations relate to a discipline at the lower or upper division level, (for example 3 SH in LL Composition) credit requested via a portfolio must be for a specific course. Students are directed to the syllabus archive in the Online Library to review the learning outcomes for a course they intend to petition. Please note that no more than 30 credit hours from non-traditional (experiential) learning can be applied towards your degree.

No, senior seminar courses and/or independent study courses are not eligible for prior learning assessment.

Students must take a no -cost, four to six week, non-credit, workshop. The workshop will not be graded. Upon acceptance to the program, students will be enrolled in the workshop. While the workshop is four weeks, it is anticipated that the completed portfolio will take several more weeks to complete after the workshop ends. The PLA staff continues to work with students until the portfolio is completed and submitted to the evaluator. If the student wishes to submit multiple portfolios for different courses, he or she is not required to attend the workshop again. However, the PLA staff will continue to work with the student on an individual basis.

Writing about one's prior learning is not as easy as it may sound. The PLA Workshop provides a series of structured activities designed to provide the student with a systematic approach to petition for credit for learning obtained outside the confines of a traditional classroom. Students will receive extensive coaching as they develop their portfolio.

Time spent on the workshop will vary from student to student. To ensure success you should expect to spend a minimum of two hours each week on the workshop and up to four each week on portfolio preparation (after the workshop is completed).

The PLA Workshop provides a series of structured activities designed to provide the student with a systematic approach to petition for credit for learning obtained outside the confines of a traditional classroom. Students will identify prior learning and will be introduced to methods by which they can demonstrate that learning. There are multiple methods of demonstrating prior learning, but the workshop focuses on the development of the portfolio.

Upon successful completion of the workshop, the student will be able to:

• Define prior learning assessment and discuss its importance to adult learners.
• Prepare an inventory of prior learning
• Differentiate between experiential learning, life experience, and traditional classroom learning
• Identify opportunities to petition for prior learning credit
• Identify and prepare appropriate documentation to support a petition for prior learning credit
• Write a cogent, grammatically and structurally correct narrative discussing his or her experiential learning
• Prepare a portfolio in accordance with our standards for submission
• Develop an educational plan

The PLA Workshop provides specific exercises to assist students in the identification of individual prior learning that may be credit-worthy. As previously stated, credit is awarded for learning, not just experience. In order for credit to be awarded, learning must fulfill all of the following criteria:

• Learning must relate to the students educational goals.
• Learning outcomes must be current.
• Credit must not duplicate previously awarded credit.
• Learning must be verifiable.
• Learning must be college-level and be relevant to a specific course for which we grant academic credit.
• Learning must be transferable to situations other than that in which it was gained.
• Knowledge of appropriate theories must accompany application of learning.

Accrediting guidelines limit the amount of experiential learning credit that may be applied toward degree completion. Limitations by degree program are listed below:

• Certificates - no more than 3 semester hours
• Associate - no more than 15 semester hours
• Bachelor's - no more than 30 semester hours
• Master's - our PLA program is presently not available for graduate programs

Please note that experiential learning credit applies to all learning outside the classroom; including, but not limited to, credit by exam, portfolio, and ACE evaluations for military training or MOS. It is required to have a completed TCE (Transfer Credit Evaluation) before you can apply for PLA.

Upon completion of the workshop you will work with your PLA Advisor to complete your portfolio within approximately four to six weeks.

Faculty evaluators may take up to four weeks to complete their evaluations. In some cases the evaluator may request additional information from the student. Requests for additional information may add up to four additional weeks to the review process. Once completed, the evaluator will provide feedback to the student and forward the evaluation form authorizing the posting of credit (if awarded) to the Transfer Credit department. The entire process from the time the portfolio leaves the students hands should take six weeks or less, unless additional information is required. Students wishing to apply for PLA credit for prior learning should consider this time line when planning for graduation. Students considering participation in the PLA program should begin planning as soon as their transfer credit evaluation is completed, to allow for the time required to submit an application for the program, enrollment and participation in the four-week workshop, completion of the portfolio, and evaluation of the portfolio.

Credit received for prior learning will be posted to the academic transcript as PLA credit. There is no letter grade assigned and it is not factored into the GPA.

You will be notified via email of the decision.

Once the portfolio is ready for evaluation, the student will incur an evaluation fee of $250. If the evaluation results in the award of academic credit, the credit will be posted to the student's transcript at no charge. If the evaluator determines that no credit is appropriate for the portfolio, the student will be informed of the reason(s) for the decision. If the student decides to revise the portfolio and resubmit it for consideration, there will be no charge for the first resubmission. Subsequent resubmissions will each incur a fee of $250. In some rare cases, the evaluator may determine that the credit being sought by the student is simply not appropriate, and will communicate to the student that a resubmission is not worthwhile. No refunds of these fees are provided, regardless of whether credit was awarded for the portfolio.

No, this program does not meet the criteria to be covered by Student Financial Aid Pro.

After the workshop students will continue to work on their own, with the help of a PLA Advisor, to complete their learning portfolios. Once the student and the PLA Advisor determine that the portfolio is ready for evaluation, the student will pay a $250 evaluation fee to have the portfolio evaluated.

If the evaluation results in the award of academic credit, the credit will be posted to the student's transcript at no charge. If the evaluator determines that no credit is appropriate for the portfolio, the student will be informed of the reason for the decision. If the student decides to revise the portfolio and resubmit it for consideration, there will be no charge for the first resubmission. Subsequent resubmissions will each incur a fee of $250. In some cases the evaluator may determine that the credit being sought by the student is simply not appropriate, and will communicate to the student that a resubmission is not worthwhile. No refunds of these fees will be provided, regardless of whether credit was awarded for the portfolio.

Students who do not earn credit and feel their portfolio was unfairly evaluated; and wish to appeal the decision, may do so only after they have submitted their portfolio for reconsideration after making appropriate revisions. The PLA Advisor will work with students to help them revise their portfolios based on the comments of the evaluator. If, after a second evaluation, credit is not recommended and a student wishes to appeal the decision, he or she may submit a formal appeal through the PLA office. In such cases the Dean (or the Dean's designated representative) of the appropriate school will be engaged to review the decision of the evaluator and render a decision as to whether the evaluation will stand, or that credit is appropriate. The decision of the Dean is final, and once a portfolio has been appealed it may not be revised and resubmitted for further evaluation.

The staff of the Prior Learning Assessment office may be reached via pla@apus.edu.