Collaborative, Complementary, and Comprehensive: CPL at Montgomery College

Credit for prior learning (CPL) is rooted in rewarding experiences. Dr. Sonia Pruneda-Hernandez has a lot of material to work with. As director of Montgomery College's Office of Learning Recognition and Advancement, she draws on a wealth of personal and professional CPL experience to help students channel their own prior learning to achieve their goals faster and more affordably.

Pruneda-Hernandez joined the college in 2006 as a professor and early childhood education coordinator. By 2015, CPL had become a focus of her work. Initially, her goal was supporting early childhood educators, particularly nontraditional women in the field who didn't have the luxury of completing a degree in the usual timeline. "That early work reinforced for me how recognizing prior learning can reduce time to completion, remove unnecessary barriers, and create more equitable pathways to degree attainment," she said.

CPL wasn’t just important to her professionally. It also resonated with her on a personal level. As an active-duty military spouse, she had suffered haphazard approaches to CPL firsthand. "Frequent relocations meant that with each move I often had to restart or repeat coursework, despite having already demonstrated the required learning," she said. "At the same time, I was employed by the federal government and completed extensive professional and technical training; however, none of that learning was recognized as credit-worthy.

"I observed similar challenges with my husband, an active-duty military student, whose ability to receive credit for military training often depended on who reviewed his records rather than on consistent, transparent standards. Too often, institutions lacked clearly defined processes or documented, verifiable methods for awarding credit for prior learning."

Fortunately for Montgomery College students, the institution has a longstanding commitment to CPL, including the acceptance of national examinations, military training, and institutional challenge exams. Pruneda-Hernandez has played a key role in strengthening that foundation by transforming isolated CPL practices into a comprehensive, scalable framework that supports workforce alignment, academic integrity, and equitable student success.

In 2024, when Pruneda-Hernandez assumed her current role, she also became a member of CAEL. "Although my doctoral research examined CPL within a specific discipline, early childhood education, I recognized the need to engage with a broader, cross-disciplinary community grounded in evidence-based research," she said. "CAEL provided that national framework, offering research, tools, and peer expertise that support the development of rigorous, scalable CPL practices across all academic and workforce disciplines."

In her new role, she began researching and developing a comprehensive CPL framework, followed by the establishment of formal CPL Guidelines. That foundational work led directly to the creation of the office she heads now and its integration into Montgomery College's Academic Affairs Strategic Plan.

As a result, in the last year, Montgomery College has significantly expanded CPL pathways available to students. These include structured noncredit-to-credit pathways, formal partnerships with external agencies to award credit for prior learning, and systematic reviews of national and industry-recognized certifications for credit alignment.

Montgomery College takes a holistic approach not just into how it operates CPL programs, but also to how it markets them. "We are approaching awareness-building as a shared institutional responsibility engaging faculty, advisors, deans, department chairs, and student-facing staff who have direct contact with both current and prospective students," said Pruneda-Hernandez. "By equipping all stakeholders with clear, consistent information about CPL opportunities and processes, we ensure that students receive accurate guidance along their academic journey. While this work continues to evolve, our goal is to embed CPL awareness into everyday academic advising, recruitment, and program conversations so that recognizing prior learning becomes a normalized and accessible pathway for students from their first point of contact with the institution."

Pruneda-Hernandez also emphasized that scaling CPL would not have been possible without the college’s strong leadership and sustained collaboration. "I am deeply grateful to our CPL champions, including Dr. Deidre Price, Dr. Michael Mills (retired), and Dr. Elena Saenz, as well as the many deans, noncredit directors, faculty, and department chairs who embraced this work and partnered to advance it."

Their support of CPL reflects its importance to Montgomery College's strategic priority to support all learners. "We recognize that many current and prospective students bring diverse educational, professional, and life experiences that can and should translate into academic credit when aligned with learning outcomes and academic standards," said Pruneda-Hernandez. "By establishing clear, faculty-driven, and documented CPL processes, we are committed to honoring students' prior learning, reducing unnecessary time and cost to degree, and advancing equitable access and student success." Along with these quantitative benefits, students who have been awarded CPL report that having their prior learning recognized affirms their experience and keeps them engaged and progressing, she added.

There can never be too many reminders that student success begets institutional success as well. Montgomery College’s approach to CPL offers several. "Institutionally, CPL has strengthened Montgomery College's ability to serve adult learners, military-connected students, career-changers, and workforce partners while maintaining academic integrity," said Pruneda-Hernandez. "By implementing clear, faculty-driven, and documented CPL processes, the college has moved from ad hoc decisions to a consistent, transparent framework aligned with learning outcomes and accreditation expectations."

This has strengthened noncredit-to-credit pathways and deepened partnerships with employers and public agencies, she noted. "Ultimately, CPL supports Montgomery College's mission by advancing equitable access, accelerating completion, and aligning academic programs with workforce and community needs, thus demonstrating that recognizing prior learning is not just a student benefit, but a strategic institutional investment."

It’s an investment that is paying workforce development dividends. "CPL allows colleges to formally recognize the skills and competencies individuals gain through employer-based training, apprenticeships, military service, and industry certifications," said Pruneda-Hernandez. "This recognition strengthens trust with employers by demonstrating that the institution values workforce aligned learning while maintaining academic rigor."

While each education and employment landscape is unique, CPL can benefit learners and workers anywhere. Pruneda-Hernandez has several tips for institutions planning to launch or enhance their own CPL programs.

“My first recommendation is to engage with CAEL as a foundational partner," she said. "CAEL provides evidence-based research, national frameworks, and a peer network that can help institutions avoid common pitfalls and design CPL systems grounded in quality and consistency." CAEL's national community of practice around CPL offers a peer network that cultivates real-time problem-solving, shared learning, and continuous improvement, "ensuring that our CPL practices are informed not only by research but by the lived experience of institutions serving adult learners nationwide," she added.

That supports another critical recommendation from Pruneda-Hernandez: make CPL work truly collaborative. "Successful CPL initiatives require intentional engagement not only from senior leadership and administrators, but also from faculty across both credit and noncredit programs. Faculty are the subject matter experts and essential to maintaining academic integrity, aligning CPL with learning outcomes, and building institutional trust."

Finally, Pruneda-Hernandez urges institutions to invest in clear policies, documented processes, and transparent communication so that CPL decisions are consistent, scalable, and student-centered. "When CPL is embedded into academic strategic plan, advising, and workforce strategy, it becomes a sustainable institutional practice rather than a series of isolated exceptions."