1. PLA from a SACSCOC Perspective
Thank you for chance to talk with you today – Although “I fully understand that with all the mergers in the last few years, y’all would probably like to have a break form seeing someone form SACSCOC.
In fact, when you saw me on the program, you probably felt like this….
March 3-4, 2015
Technical College System of Georgia
Prior Learning Assessment Conference
Peachtree City, Georgia
Michael S. Johnson Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff SACSCOC

2. But I hope my follow-up to these excellent presentations will be more encouraging. Because, frankly, there is nothing about Prior Learning Assessment that is problematic from an accreditation perspective.
There are some standards and policies that you should be familiar with, however. In general terms and in common language, these amount to these key points:

3. Key Accreditation Points
You need to justify what you do
What you offer must still be your degree
You need to justify what you do
Process to validate what you accept and how you accept credits via PLA
At least 2 standards address this
What you offer must still be your degree
PLA is NOT considered to be credits earned at your institution.
While there are a few institutions that serve, essentially, as :credit aggregators” or “credit brokers”, none of these are SACSCOC member institutions.
Again, At least 2 standards address this.

4. SACSCOC Standards CS 3.4.4: Acceptance of Academic Credit
Transfer of credit, experiential learning, credit by exam criteria
CS 3.4.8: Noncredit to credit
CS Requires you have explicit WRITTEN PUBLISHED policies for accepting credits validated by someone else.
CS Likewise requires that you have appropriate documentation when awarding credit for course work taken on a noncredit basis, and that you can document equivalence.

5. CS 3.4.4
The institution publishes policies that include criteria for evaluating, awarding, and accepting credit for transfer, experiential learning, credit by examination, advanced placement, and professional certificates that is consistent with its mission and ensures that course work and learning outcomes are at the collegiate level and comparable to the institution’s own degree programs. The institution assumes responsibility for the academic quality of any course work or credit recorded on the institution’s transcript.
Basically, says you must have a means to ensure the validity of the credits you place on your transcript – and you must only transcript course work comparable to your own degree programs.

6. SACSCOC Standards CS 3.5.2: Institutional credits for a degree
FR 4.9: Credit hour
CS 3.4.7: Consortial relationships/contractual agreements
There are limits on what you can take in from elsewhere into a degree program
Must offer at least 25% of the program yourself for each student [credits “are earned”] (and the rest must be comparable to what you offer). Why?
Obligation to the public of minimum quality/prevention of educational fraud
Obligation to the government as gatekeeper to access to federal funds
Credit hour comes into play in defining equivalencies
Contractual Agreements come into play if you assign to a 3rd party your usual role in delivering courses (or in evaluating transfer credits)

7. SACSCOC Policies Quality and Integrity of Undergraduate Degrees
Direct Assessment Competency-Based Educational Programs
Quality and integrity:
No Block credit
Collegiate level