Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is an important part of the new higher education landscape. Much research has been done about the impact of accepting PLA credits on degree completion. There are many ways for individuals to gain PLA academic credits, but what about credit for work experience and on-the-job training? During this session, discover how individuals, particularly adults, active military, and military veterans, can obtain credit toward a degree program for the knowledge and skills they have gained on the job. Also learn how one college in Ohio is utilizing PLA for a new program for military and veterans and what is happening with PLA in the state of Ohio.

Conference Track: Prior Learning Assessment

Each year, the College Board recognizes the Top 100 test centers that administer the most College Level Exam Program (CLEP) exams. While the counting of CLEP exams to determine this top 100 is easy, what these schools do to achieve this truly remarkable status is also very extraordinary. From onsite recruitment, program awareness, policy development, and high school outreach, the Top 100 test centers have unique and innovative approaches and proven techniques that help more students make faster and cost-effective progress toward their degrees through CLEP.

Conference Track: Prior Learning Assessment

This session will address trending topics ranging from general updates to DANTES fully-funded testing and accommodation options. There will be plenty of time for Q&A from the audience.

Conference Track: Prior Learning Assessment

This presentation will address the question "What is Prior Learning Assessment?" and use the following as the guide: a set of well-established, researched, and validated methods for assessing non-collegiate learning for college credit and a process that allows learners to demonstrate knowledge and skill in a particular field or fields and have that learning evaluated for college credit.

The presenter will provide national research data from CAEL and Lumina Foundation, describe the 10 standards of PLA as established by CAEL, and provide the participants the opportunity to learn how the Colorado Community College System is implementing system wide policies for Prior Learning Assessment. Slides, video, and a tour of web sites from a variety of institutions will show how institutions may develop a strong PLA program. Finally, the presentation will include steps that may be helpful in a PLA program and provide time for an open discussion on moving this very important topic to the forefront.

Conference Track: Prior Learning Assessment

Colleges have the capacity to attract, retain, and graduate more adult students with opportunities to earn college credit using Prior Learning Assessment (PLA). PLA is the evaluation and assessment of one's learning and knowledge gained through life and work experience. There are multiple PLA methods which include standardized exams such as CLEP, DANTES (DSST), and Excelsior/UExcel; institutional exams; evaluations of local, workplace, and corporate training; industry certifications/licensure; individualized assessments such as portfolios; and military training and non-college programs. Miami Dade College (MDC) is highly committed to PLA. This session will describe the benefits of PLA and MDC initiatives which can be applied at your institution.

Conference Track: Prior Learning Assessment

With college costs rising like the tides of St. Pete's Beach, students are looking for a way to stay afloat in higher education. Excelsior College through the UExcel credit-by-exam program is providing a surf board to success. By utilizing exam content guides, open educational resources, recommended books, and practice exams, individuals are given the ability to ride the wave towards accomplishing career goals, early degree completion, and overall self-fulfillment.

Conference Track: Prior Learning Assessment

In order to address the projected and existing shortage of underrepresented minorities earning degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), colleges need to take advantage of the asset that many students arrive on campus possessing: prior learning, which can be measured by CLEP Exams. This session (which will be interactive with audience Q&A) will include presentation of data focusing on Hispanic students who have taken CLEP exams, their assessment scores, and their later success in STEM-related classes. These figures will be compared to the grade point averages and classroom successes of traditional STEM students who entered North Lake College (NLC) at the same time. A compare/contrast style will be used to show how students with prior knowledge validate it by taking CLEP Exams to achieve college credit before they enroll in STEM courses at NLC. CLEP also allows students who speak Spanish as a first or second language or who have been trained in nursing or computers and information systems in the military to place into STEM classes sooner, paving the road for higher completion rates. By accurately placing prepared, engaged, and motivated Hispanic students, the NLC CLEP/STEM partnership helps create outcomes that include a more dynamic classroom experience, which leads to the filling of needed STEM positions by qualified, energetic Latina/Latino scholars.

CLEP Exams allow students who have no need for certain lower level courses to place into advanced STEM-related classes sooner, paving the road for higher college completion rates as well as more successful and dedicated Hispanic students entering graduate STEM programs. While this is a valuable key to success for any college or university, the real reward is for the students who graduate early and enter the workforce or a graduate program to become experienced, productive members of their chosen professional field. This in turn leads to economic and personal satisfaction not only for themselves but also for society as a whole.

Conference Track: Prior Learning Assessment