Credit for life experience? More colleges woo students with path to degrees.
| Pittsburgh
Stephen Wells was trained in the Air Force to work on F-16 fighter jets, including critical radar, navigation, and weapons systems whose proper functioning meant life or death for pilots.
Yet when he left the service and tried to apply that expertise toward an education at Pittsburgh鈥檚 Community College of Allegheny County, or CCAC, he was given just three credits toward a required class in physical education.
Mr. Wells moved forward anyway, going on to get his bachelor鈥檚 and doctoral degrees. Now he鈥檚 CCAC鈥檚 provost and involved in a citywide project to help other people transform their military and work experience into academic credit.
Why We Wrote This
Colleges and universities are concerned about enrollment numbers. More campuses are finding ways for military veterans and people who鈥檝e been in the workforce to fast-track degrees.
What鈥檚 happening in Pittsburgh is part of growing national momentum behind letting students 鈥� especially the increasing number who started but never completed a degree 鈥� cash in their life skills toward finally getting one, saving them time and money.
Colleges and universities have long purported to provide what鈥檚 known in higher education as credit for prior learning. But they have made the process so complex, slow, and expensive that only about 1 in 10 students .
Many students , especially low-income learners who could benefit the most, according to a study by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, or CAEL.
鈥淚t drives me nuts鈥� that this promise has historically proven so elusive, Mr. Wells says, in his college鈥檚 new Center for Education, Innovation & Training.
That appears to be changing. Nearly half of institutions surveyed last year by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, or AACRAO, say they for students to receive these credits. Electricians, for example, can apply some of their training toward academic courses in electrical engineering, and daycare workers can use their experience to earn degrees in teaching.
The reason universities and colleges are doing this is simple: Nearly 38 million working-age Americans have spent some time in college but , according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Getting at least some of them to come back has become essential to these higher education institutions at a time when changing demographics mean that is falling.
鈥淲hen higher education institutions are fat and happy, nobody looks for these things. Only when those traditional pipelines dry up do we start looking for other potential populations,鈥� says Jeffrey Harmon, vice provost for strategic initiatives and institutional effectiveness at Thomas Edison State University in New Jersey, which has long given adult learners credit for the skills they bring.
A tool for recruiting
Being able to get credit for prior learning is a huge potential recruiting tool. Eighty-four percent of adults who are leaning toward going back to college say on their decision, according to research by CAEL, the Strada Education Foundation, and Hanover Research. (Strada is among the funders of The Hechinger Report, which produced this story.)
When Melissa DiMatteo decided to get an associate degree at CCAC to go further in her job, she got six credits for her previous training in Microsoft Office and her work experience as everything from a receptionist to a supervisor. That spared the 38-year-old from having to take two required courses in computer information and technology and 鈥� since she鈥檚 going to school part time and taking one course per semester 鈥� saved her a year.
鈥淭aking those classes would have been a complete waste of my time,鈥� Ms. DiMatteo says. 鈥淭hese are things that I do every day. I supervise other people and train them on how to do this work.鈥�
On average, students who get credit for prior learning and nearly seven months off the time it takes to earn a bachelor鈥檚 degree, the nonprofit advocacy group Higher Learning Advocates calculates. The likelihood that they will graduate is 17% higher, the organization finds.
Justin Hand dropped out of college because of the cost, and became a largely self-taught information technology manager before he decided to go back and get an associate and then a bachelor鈥檚 degree so he could move up in his career.
He got 15 credits 鈥� a full semester鈥檚 worth 鈥� through a program at the University of Memphis for which he wrote essays to prove he had already mastered software development, database management, computer networking, and other skills.
鈥淭hese were all the things I do on a daily basis,鈥� says Mr. Hand, of Memphis, who is 50 and married, with a teenage son. 鈥淎nd I didn鈥檛 want to have to prolong college any more than I needed to.鈥�
Making it easier to evaluate skills
Meanwhile, employers and policymakers are pushing colleges to speed up the output of graduates with skills required in the workforce, including by giving more students credit for their prior learning. And online behemoths and , with which brick-and-mortar colleges compete, are way ahead of them in conferring credit for past experience.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e mastered this and used it as a marketing tool,鈥� says Kristen Vanselow, assistant vice president of innovative education and partnerships at Florida Gulf Coast University, which has expanded its awarding of credit for prior learning. 鈥淢ore traditional higher education institutions have been slower to adapt.鈥�
It鈥檚 also gotten easier to evaluate how skills that someone learns in life equate to academic courses or programs. This has traditionally required students to submit portfolios, take tests or write essays, as Mr. Hand did, and faculty to subjectively and individually assess them.
Now some institutions, states, systems, and independent companies are standardizing this work or using artificial intelligence to do it. The growth of certifications from professional organizations such as Amazon Web Services and the Computing Technology Industry Association, or CompTIA, has helped, too.
鈥淵ou literally punch [an industry certification] into our database and it tells you what credit you can get,鈥� says Philip Giarraffa, executive director of articulation and academic pathways at Miami Dade College. 鈥淲hen I started here, that could take anywhere from two weeks to three months.鈥�
Data provided by Miami Dade shows it has septupled the number of credits for prior learning awarded since 2020, from 1,197 then to 7,805 last year.
鈥淭hese are students that most likely would have looked elsewhere, whether to the [online] University of Phoenix or University of Maryland Global [Campus]鈥� or other big competitors, Dr. Giarraffa says.
Fifteen percent of undergraduates enrolled in higher education full time and 40% enrolled part time , federal data show 鈥� including people who delayed college to serve in the military, volunteer or do other work that could translate into academic credit.
鈥淣obody wants to sit in a class where they already have all this knowledge,鈥� Dr. Giarraffa says.
At Thomas Edison, police academy graduates qualify for up to 30 credits toward associate degrees. Carpenters who have completed apprenticeships can get as many as 74 credits in subjects including math, management and safety training. Bachelor鈥檚 degrees are often a prerequisite for promotion for people in professions such as these, or who hope to start their own companies.
The University of Memphis works with FedEx, headquartered nearby, to give employees with supervisory training academic credit they can use toward a degree in organizational leadership, helping them move up in the company.
The University of North Carolina System last year launched its Military Equivalency System, which lets active-duty and former military service members , before applying for admission, if their training could be used for academic credit. That had previously required contacting admissions offices, registrars or department chairs.
Among the reasons for this reform was that so many of these prospective students 鈥� and the federal education benefits they get 鈥� were , the UNC System鈥檚 strategic plan notes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to change that,鈥� says Kathie Sidner, the system鈥檚 director of workforce and partnerships. It鈥檚 not only for the sake of enrollment and revenue, she says. 鈥淔rom a workforce standpoint, these individuals have tremendous skill sets and we want to retain them as opposed to them moving somewhere else.鈥�
California鈥檚 community colleges are also expanding their credit for prior learning programs as part of a plan to increase the proportion of the population .
鈥淗ow many people do you know who say, 鈥楥ollege isn鈥檛 for me?鈥欌�� asks Sam Lee, senior advisor to the system鈥檚 chancellor for credit for prior learning. 鈥淚t makes a huge difference when you say to them that what they鈥檝e been doing is equivalent to college coursework already.鈥�
In Pittsburgh, the Regional Upskilling Alliance 鈥� of which CCAC is a part 鈥� is connecting job centers, community groups, businesses, and educational institutions to create comprehensive education and employment records so more workers can get credit for skills they already have.
That can provide a big push, 鈥渆specially if you鈥檙e talking about parents who think, 鈥業鈥檒l never be able to go to school,鈥欌�� says Sabrina Saunders Mosby, president and CEO of the nonprofit Vibrant Pittsburgh, a coalition of business and civic leaders involved in the effort.
Pennsylvania is facing declines in the number of 18-year-old high school graduates.
鈥淥ur members are companies that need talent,鈥� Ms. Mosby says.
鈥淎 total game changer鈥�
There鈥檚 one group that has historically pushed back against awarding credit for prior learning: university and college faculty concerned it might affect enrollment in their courses or unconvinced that training provided elsewhere is of comparable quality. Institutions have worried about the loss of revenue from awarding credits for which students would otherwise have had to pay.
That also appears to be changing, as universities leverage credit for prior learning to recruit more students and keep them enrolled for longer, resulting in more revenue 鈥� not less.
鈥淭hat monetary factor was something of a myth,鈥� says Beth Doyle, chief of strategy at CAEL.
Faculty have increasingly come around, too. That鈥檚 sometimes because they like having experienced students in their classrooms, Florida Gulf Coast鈥檚 Ms. Vanselow says.
Still, while many recognize it as a recruiting incentive, most public universities and colleges have had to be ordered by legislatures or governing boards. Private, nonprofit colleges remain stubbornly .
More than two-thirds for evaluating whether other kinds of learning can be transformed into academic credit, an expense that isn鈥檛 covered by financial aid. Roughly one in 12 charge the same as it would cost to take the course for which the credits are awarded.
Seventy percent of institutions require that students apply for admission and be accepted before learning . Eighty-five percent limit a student can receive.
There are other confounding roadblocks and seemingly self-defeating policies. CCAC runs a noncredit program to train paramedics, for example, but won鈥檛 give people who complete it credits toward its for-credit nursing degree. Many leave and go across town to a private university that will. The college is working on fixing this, says Debra Roach, its vice president for workforce development.
It鈥檚 important to see this from the students鈥� point of view, says Tracy Robinson, executive director of the University of Memphis Center for Regional Economic Enrichment.
鈥淐redit for prior learning is a way for us to say, 鈥榃e want you back. We value what you鈥檝e been doing since you鈥檝e been gone,鈥欌�� Ms. Robinson says. 鈥淎nd that is a total game changer.鈥�
This story about credit for prior learning was produced by , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Listen to its聽.
