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The Role Of Prior Learning Assessment In Adult Education

9 September 2015 by Annette Miles

When adults go back to college after several years in the workplace, they carry with them valuable information learned on the job. This hands-on training can actually substitute for college credit via a process that many adult learning programs offer, called prior learning assessment. 

Most adult education programs have a process for assessing prior learning that includes faculty evaluation of a portfolio prepared by the student. According to the Council on Adult Experiential Learning (CAEL), more than 66 percent of institutions have some form of portfolio evaluation that results in additional college credit for on-the-job learning. 

How Portfolios Can Help Older Adults Earn Degrees

The opportunity to get college credit for work or life learning can help more nontraditional students get their degrees. Students who submit portfolios of prior learning are two-and-a-half times more likely to graduate with a degree, plus they are able to finish their degrees more quickly.

Types of Students Who Benefit From Prior Learning Assessment

Most of the students who get prior learning credit have been out of school for several years and are considered "nontraditional" students. When they return to school -- which they often do in order to get a degree that will help them advance in their current companies -- they have workplace education that can be evaluated for how it compares to college classwork.

In most cases, the students must be able to prove that they engaged in learning, not just in getting work experience, while in the workplace. Examples include taking seminars, training or being self-taught in some types of computer software, leadership training or project management.

How to Create a Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio

Your college or university will have guidelines in place for creating and submitting portfolios of learning. If you're evaluating institutions based on their policies, look for the following:

• Accreditation. Make sure that the institution you're considering is fully recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as being an institute of higher learning. 
• Credit maximum. Each college or university will have a maximum number of credits that prior learning assessment can be worth. The more workplace training and education you've amassed, the better off you may be submitting a portfolio for multiple credits.
• Transferability. If you create a portfolio and it is accepted for credit, but you need to move to a different institution to finish your degree, will you be able to transfer the portfolio credits? You may not plan to transfer, but sometimes you need to for reasons out of your control.

Talk to an advisor at the colleges you are considering for your continuing adult education. They should be able to give you an estimate or range of the number of credits you may be able to receive via prior learning assessment, and help you map out a plan for finishing your degree.

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