Life Experience
Self-Assessment
Can I earn university credit for my work, volunteer experience or on-the-job training? If you
have life experience that equates to what you would be expected to learn in a course or courses,
developing a portfolio to document that experience may be a good way for you to earn credit. The
following assessment will help you determine that.
Placement of Credit
1. Will the credit earned be useful for my academic goals?
2. Will the credit achieved help me with my career goals?
3. Have I completed a degree plan identifying where my experiential learning
could be applied?
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Resources
7. Do I have certificates from training, on-the-job experience or other learning
Yes
8. Do I have verification of past activities (company job descriptions/evaluations)? Yes
9. Can I obtain letters to validate my learning claims?
Yes
No
No
No
Expected Outcomes
10. Do I expect this to be a quick way to earn college credit?
11. Have I defined what I expect to accomplish by pursuing prior learning credit?
12. Do I know how many credits I would like to apply for?
13. I know the difference between general education credits and credit for a major.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Content
4. Have I reviewed the University catalogue and found a course or courses that
seem to match my learning?
5. Have I already taken a course that covers the same type of content?
6. Can I apply my learning from life experiences into classroom equivalencies?
Portfolio Preparation
14. Do I have the ability to organize materials?
15. Is my level of writing equivalent to college level requirements?
16. Can I write about my acquired knowledge of the subject matter in a way that
will reveal the depth of my knowledge?
Personal Commitment
17. Do I understand that researching and documenting learning experiences
will take time?
18. Will I be able to pursue this project and continue to maintain other activities
that I value?
19. Can I set a schedule for a project and stick to it?
20. Am I comfortable working independently?
21. Do I prefer collaborating with other learners?
22. Am I willing to ask for assistance when needed?
If you answered yes to most of the questions, except #5, #10 or #21, life experience credit may be
appropriate for you. If you have any questions or want to discuss the life experience process, contact the
Adult Student Services Office, 405 Scotland Road, 211 Pogue Student Center, (814) 732-2701,
adultstudents@edinboro.edu.