Turning prior learning, work experience, military service and other credentials into college credit can save students time and money. Despite that benefit, it’s been underutilized.

Only about 11% of adult learners, for example, have benefited from prior learning assessment (PLA) – also referred to as credit for prior learning (CPL) – according to a 2020 report from the Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL) and Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

Editor’s note: This article is one of two pieces this week that focus on credit for prior learning.

There are a lot of different reasons for that, says Beth Doyle, CAEL’s chief of higher education strategy and impact: It’s not talked about or promoted broadly at the college level, and processes may be burdensome for students – and for colleges.

Though there are resources and guidance available, such as the American Council on Education’s (ACE) learner evaluations and the Competency-Based Education Network’s (CBEN) learning model, each college has to develop its own policies and processes – and get faculty and staff on board.

Doyle is seeing a positive shift, though, as colleges move toward more and better use of PLA.

“Institutions are getting more sophisticated in how to assess,” she says.

A team effort

Dallas College is one of those institutions. The growth and improvement of CPL have been driven by strategic investments, particularly in staffing.

The Texas college expanded from a single individual managing alternative credits to a more robust team with additional staff dedicated to this role. One team member now works directly with students one‑on‑one, guiding them from their initial inquiry about CPL, through the full assessment process, says Tina Root, dean of alternative credit programs.

The college has a website dedicated to helping students understand CPL and holds information sessions and webinars on the topic.

Root notes that other team members are “working behind the scenes to establish best practices” and to identify emerging forms of learning and professional experience that may be translated into college credit. This work also involves collaborating with industry partners to “crosswalk” their professional development offerings, determining whether they align with academic standards and qualify for course credit for Dallas College students.

To be considered, the professional development must meet the required instructional hours associated with the course credit and align with the established learning objectives of the specific course, according to Root.

However, the CPL initiative extends beyond a single department. Root explains that faculty, recognized as the subject-matter experts, are being trained through CAEL to better evaluate and promote prior learning. They play a critical role in determining which forms of professional or experiential learning demonstrate the competencies required for their courses.

Dallas College is not undertaking this work alone. Institutions across Texas have formed a consortium to discuss CPL strategies and share effective practices.

“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” Root says.

Investing in infrastructure

The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) in Arizona began its journey to update its PLA infrastructure, processes and policies about 10 years ago. Though the college district had already offered PLA, it was underused, according to Rose Rojas, district director for curriculum and transfer.

The college worked to build “access and flexibility,” Rojas says.

MCCCD now can crosswalk about 345 credentials to its own coursework, and many of those credentials can be quickly evaluated online, especially industry-recognized credentials, such as CISCO or CompTIA certificates.

Evaluation for students is “consistent, fair and students earn the credit they deserve,” says Student Services Supervisor Clarissa Duarte, who led the work to update PLA for the district.

But getting to that point meant first responding to challenges. One reason PLA was underutilized was the cost to the students. Often, if they were awarded credits through assessment, they would pay the same per credit as they would to take a class. Rojas and Duarte reworked policies to remove that barrier.

Now, MCCCD does not charge any fees for most PLA types, such as transfer credit from nationally recognized institutions, standardized college-level exams (e.g., College-Level Examination Program, Advanced Placement, etc.), GED exams, industry/corporate training and more. A small administrative fee is charged if transfer credit is awarded through a faculty-issued department challenge exam.

Another big challenge: PLA has functioned differently at each of the 10 (separately accredited) colleges in the Maricopa district. This frustrated students, many of whom took courses at multiple campuses, and it frustrated student services, too.

It has been a herculean task to try to “centralize something in a decentralized system,” Duarte says, but the PLA team has streamlined some of the processes. Though some practices still differ among campuses, staff are generally on the same page about PLA.

Easing faculty concerns

Faculty members also weren’t sold on the changes to MCCCD’s PLA processes and policies. One concern was that awarding more credits through PLA would lead to the elimination of some courses. They also worried that credits awarded wouldn’t be accepted by a four-year institution if students transferred.

Rojas and Duarte set out to assuage those fears. They did “road shows” to faculty, leadership and college stakeholders at different campuses to talk about the benefits of PLA – and it helped.

They assured faculty that credit would only be awarded if it can be applied toward students’ program of study. For example, if a student has phlebotomy experience, the student would receive credit for that experience if he/she is in a program that requires it.

As for the concern about transfer of credits, the district is embedding PLA into its transfer policies to ensure Maricopa’s transfer partners accept the earned credits to provide students the best protection against losing time and money, Rojas says.

“We can’t have a conversation about PLA without thinking about transfer and credit mobility,” she adds. And the good news is “our university partners are coming with us.”

There’s more to the story! Read the full article in CC Daily.