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. APUS has liberal transfer policies that recognize CLEP and DANTES exams, as well as credit 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 the APUS 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 APUS Transfer Credit department, if the student has credit to transfer
• Have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 for APUS courses taken to date, and not be on academic probation
• Have not applied for graduation (students are too far along in the academic career to receive academic credit via PLA in time for graduation)

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 APUS 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 an eight week course designed to help them analyze their prior experience in terms of the learning that resulted. Students must be admitted to the PLA program in order to enroll in the course. Please refer to the website for the student self-assessment form required to begin the admission process.

Students need to be able to focus the portfolio on the learning that was acquired, not simply the experience. Writing about one’s prior learning is not as easy as it may sound. The PLA course provides a series of structured activities designed to provide the student with a systematic approach when petitioning for credit for non-traditional learning.  Students will receive extensive coaching as they develop their portfolio.

The workload is similar to any other APUS course. There are required forums, writing assignments and quizzes.

This course provides a structured series of activities designed to provide the student with a systematic approach to petition for credit for learning obtained outside a traditional classroom. Students will learn to differentiate between experience, experiential learning, and learning by experience. They will analyze their personal knowledge, skills, and abilities and leverage them to develop and achieve educational goals as they learn about learning styles and theories. Students will identify prior learning and will be introduced to methods by which they can demonstrate that learning. Students will develop and submit at least one portfolio for assessment. The portfolio developed during the course will be evaluated at no additional charge beyond the tuition for the course. Additional portfolios may be submitted after completion of the course. The evaluation fee for any additional portfolio is $250.

Workshop Objectives

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

• Define prior learning assessment and discuss its importance to adult learners 
• Prepare an inventory of prior learning
• Develop an educational plan 
• Differentiate between experiential learning and life experience and traditional classroom learning
• Explain Kolb’s learning theory as it applies to personal learning experiences
• 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 corrective narrative discussing his/her experiential learning
• Prepare a portfolio in accordance with APUS standards for submission

What is covered in the workshop? (Continued)

The PLA course 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 APUS grants 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 - the APUS PLA program is presently not available for graduate programs

Students complete the first portfolio during the eight week course. In some cases, additional edits may be required prior to submission for evaluation which may add to the time required to finalize the portfolio.  Additional portfolios may be created once the workshop has ended. Students continue to work with their PLA Advisor independently as they work on subsequent portfolios. To the extent possible, students are encouraged to follow the degree completion plan they develop in the course.

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 for the Prior Learning course will be applied to elective credits with a letter grade. Credit received for prior learning will be posted to the academic transcript in fulfillment for the course petitioned as PLA credit and counted toward transfer credit limits. There is no letter grade assigned and it is not factored into the GPA.

You will be notified via email of the decision.

The first portfolio, which is developed in the course, will be evaluated at no additional cost. An evaluation fee of $250 will be charged for additional portfolios completed beyond the course requirement. 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 does not recommend credit, 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.

The evaluation fee is non-refundable, regardless of the credit recommendation.

It depends on the type of aid you are receiving. Generally, students can use financial aid/tuition assistance to cover the tuition for COLL200. Students receiving financial support from government-sponsored programs may need to use personal funds to pay portfolio evaluation fees. Some employer-sponsored programs may cover fees associated with earning a degree. Please check with the financial aid office to discuss your particular situation.

Students may submit additional portfolios once they have completed the course and had the first required portfolio evaluated.

Students who submit portfolios for which credit is not recommended who feel their portfolio was unfairly evaluated may appeal the decision. They 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.