The Growing Importance of Prior Learning Assessment in the Degree-Completion Toolkit

Central to many of the current developments in higher education is prior learning assessment (PLA). In the past several years, with new and ambitious degree completion goals for adults, the U.S. is witnessing what can only be called a surge of interest in PLA. This article expains the new, expanded future for PLA that may now be possible. It appeared in in the Winter 2013 issue of New Directions in Adult & Continuing Education, published by Wiley Periodicals.