Prior Learning Assessment is a term used to describe learning gained outside a traditional academic environment. Put another way, it’s learning and knowledge your students acquire while living their lives: working, participating in employer training programs, serving in the military, studying independently, volunteering or doing community service, and studying open source courseware.

In short, PLA is the evaluation and assessment of an individual’s life learning for college credit, certification, or advanced standing toward further education or training.

CAEL recently conducted a study on PLA and adult student outcomes. The study examined data on 62,475 adult students at 48 colleges and universities across the country. CAEL found that students who earn PLA credit are two and a half times more likely to persist to graduation. PLA students also had higher persistence rates and a faster time to degree completion.



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Check Research & Publications for more research on PLA. 

Prior Learning Assessment is not just one method or tool. PLA includes options such as:

• Portfolio-based Assessments—Evaluations of student portfolios such as those done through CAEL’s service, LearningCounts.org
• Evaluation of Local Training—Program evaluations of non-collegiate instructional programs done by individual colleges
• American Council on Education (ACE) Guides—Published credit recommendations for formal instructional programs offered by non-collegiate agencies, both civilian employers and the military
• Challenge Exams—Local tests developed by a college to verify learning achievement
• Advanced Placement (AP) Exams—A series of tests developed by the College Board initially for AP High School courses, including 34 exams in 19 subject areas
• College Level Examination Program (CLEP) Exams—Tests of college material offered by the College Board
• Excelsior College Examination Program—Formerly, Regents College Exams or ACT/PEP Exams, offered by Excelsior College, NY
• DSST Credit by Exam Program—Formerly known as the DANTES Program, owned and administered by Prometric, tests knowledge of both lower-level and upper-level college material through 38 exams

To determine whether to award college credit to students for prior learning, follow these standards:
 

1. Credit or its equivalent should be awarded only for learning, and not for experience.
2. Assessment should be based on standards and criteria for the level of acceptable learning that are both agreed upon and made public.
3. Assessment should be treated as an integral part of learning, not separate from it, and should be based on an understanding of learning processes.
4. The determination of credit awards and competence levels must be made by appropriate subject matter and academic or credentialing experts.
5. Credit or other credentialing should be appropriate to the context in which it is awarded and accepted.
6. If awards are for credit, transcript entries should clearly describe what learning is being recognized and should be monitored to avoid giving credit twice for the same learning.
7. Policies, procedures, and criteria applied to assessment, including provision for appeal, should be fully disclosed and prominently available to all parties involved in the assessment process.
8. Fees charged for assessment should be based on the services performed in the process and not determined by the amount of credit awarded.
9. All personnel involved in the assessment of learning should pursue and receive adequate training and continuing professional development for the functions they perform.
10. Assessment programs should be regularly monitored, reviewed, evaluated, and revised as needed to reflect changes in the needs being served, the purposes being met, and the state of the assessment arts.

Taken from Assessing Learning: Standards, Principles, and Procedures (Second Edition)
By Morry Fiddler, Catherine Marienau, and Urban Whitaker, 2006. Chicago, Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

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CAEL assesses students’ portfolios directly through LearningCounts.org—an online resource that reduces the administrative costs associated with assessing prior learning and gives students access to a nationwide pool of faculty assessors.

We offer the following services:

• Free educational advising to students
• Online course in PLA (CAEL 100)
• Access to an extensive faculty roster, trained according to CAEL standards
• Review of learning experiences by faculty experts for college-level equivalency
• Direct links to the College Board’s College Level Examination Program (CLEP) testing options and American Council on Education (ACE CREDIT) evaluations of workplace and military training
• Archived electronic record of student's history of prior learning
• Credit recommendations recorded on an American Council on Education (ACE CREDIT) transcript

Visit www.LearningCounts.org for more information.

With increased emphasis on college completion and adult learners, PLA can be a tool to help adult learners succeed and graduate. If your institution is paying more attention to adult learners, PLA professional development can keep you in the know, and help you train others to provide this service to students.
 

• View PLA Webinars
• View PLA Workshops
• View PLA Certification

It may not always be clear what the next step—or first step—is when building or enhancing a PLA program at your institution. CAEL can provide the strategic direction you need, help create or improve your PLA policies, and provide training for your faculty on how to correctly assess prior learning.


Contact us to discuss your PLA goals.