1. Assessment of Prior Learning
Empowering and Engaging Non-traditional Students
Joshua Shaffer, Academic Partnership Manager

2. Overview What is Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)? Why PLA?
Industry leaders
Credit by exam
Portfolio assessments
ACE/NCCRS
Evaluation of military and workplace training
Benefits of PLA
First steps

3. Excelsior College Founded in 1971 Regionally accredited Private
Not-for-profit
Online
Geared towards the adult learner

4. What you know is more important than where or how you learned it.®

5. What is PLA?

6. What is PLA?
Process of substantiating and evaluating learning obtained outside of the classroom for the purpose of awarding college credit:
Military training
Workplace training
Licenses and certifications
Proficiency exams
Life experience
Non-collegiate instructional programs

7. Why PLA?

8. Lumina Foundation: Goal 2025
“60% of Americans hold degrees, certificates, or high-quality post secondary credentials by 2025”
2 out of 3 jobs will require postsecondary education this decade
Only 40% of adults in the U.S. have achieved this

9. The need for change

10. Endless Opportunity
Lumina Foundation, NCES

11. Industry Leaders

12. Credit by Exam

13. Portfolio Assessment

14. ACE/NCCRS
National leaders in the evaluation of military, corporate and non-traditional education
Accepted at between 1,500 and 2,000 colleges

15. Institutional Evaluation of Workplace Training
Center for Educational measurement (CEM)
Center for the Assessment of Post Traditional Instruction, Training, and Learning (CAPITAL)
Center for Military Education CME

16. Benefits of PLA

17. Attracting Students
87% of Americans believe that students should be awarded credit for prior learning
75% said they would be much more likely to go back to college if they could earn credit for prior learning
Lumina Foundation, Gallup Poll, 2013

18. Degree Completion
Adult students who earned PLA were two-and-a-half times more likely to complete a degree
Regardless of
Race/ethnicity
Age
Financial aid status
Gender
Academic ability
Institution size, level or status (profit/non-profit)
Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success (2010) CAEL, 2010

19. Persistence
Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success (2010) CAEL, 2010

20. Time/Cost to Degree
Awarding cr. hrs. of PLA saves about 6 months of work and $5,000-$18,000
Average PLA student reduces time to degree between months
Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success (2010) CAEL, 2010

21. Student Impact
Katherine Von Dohlen, Boerne, Texas
Age 39, BSL ’11 Insurance Claims Adjuster/Special Education Teacher/Graduate Student
Katherine left Louisiana State University in 1993, lured by a high-paying sales job, but soon she found herself a single mother without a college degree. A traditional college classroom proved a difficult option with young children and a full-time job.
She combine Excelsior College online course work with CLEP and DANTES exams, along with course credits from earlier college work.
She added another 30 credits using Excelsior College Examinations to earn her BS in Liberal Arts in 2011.
“You don’t often realize how much you know, and how much you absorb from reading and working,”

22. First Steps

23. What to Look For Recognition by ACE CREDIT or NCCRS
Technical manual outlining procedures for the assessment or criteria for portfolio evaluation
Rigorous security procedures
Conforms to APA Standards for Educational and Psychological Measurement
Common, standardized development/evaluation procedures
Adherence to psychometric guidelines
Accreditation standards

24. Challenges to Overcome
No PLA policy at institution
Lack of awareness of existing PLA policy
Advising
Admissions
Faculty
Policy that limits acceptance
Skepticism
Seat time definition of learning or credit
Generalized limits of transfer credit

25. Set a Policy
Keep in mind that your goal is to make it easier for your students to complete without sacrificing the integrity of your institution.
Partner with institutions who have mastered PLA
Illustrate the benefits to internal staff and faculty who may not be open to change
Gain access to best practices

26. The Big Picture

27. Questions?