PROCEDURE
ASSESSMENT OF PRIOR LEARNING FOR ACADEMIC CREDIT
PROCEDURES FOR UNDERGRADUATE PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT
Matriculated undergraduate students at Ramapo College of New Jersey are eligible to
apply for, and may acquire credit for, knowledge that they have gained outside the
traditional academic setting through work, training, community service, and other
accomplishments. The process of Prior Learning Assessment involves the development
of a portfolio reviewed by an identified faculty member who confirms that the prior
learning for which the student wishes credit is relevant to a particular program’s or
course’s learning outcomes. Credit by PLA portfolio is available to all undergraduate
students, but is most commonly used by adult learners1. Ramapo follows the standards
developed by The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) regarding
assessment of prior learning (www.cael.org/pla). The following procedure outlines the
steps by which a PLA portfolio review begins and culminates with the awarding of credits.
Reviewing PLA portfolio policies with student General information about earning
credits through PLA portfolio is made available to students at transfer and adult
orientation sessions. Any matriculated undergraduate student interested in earning
credit through PLA portfolio must schedule a meeting with the Director of the Degree
Completion Program (DCP) to discuss courses for which he or she is requesting PLA
credits. The DCP Director provides the student with the PLA Student Handbook, as well
as the Application Packet and other resources, and reviews the following policies with the
student:

Students may earn a maximum of 16 credits through PLA portfolio in an
undergraduate program.

Credits awarded through PLA portfolio are treated as transfer credits. Transfer
credits are comprised of transfer courses from previous institutions, CLEP credits,
and PLA portfolio credits. Undergraduate students who have already reached the
1
At Ramapo College, an adult student is a student who is financially independent, meaning that he/she is 25 years or
older, married or in a civil union, a veteran, has dependents other than a spouse, or is an orphan or ward of the court.
Procedure 300-H – Revised 4-28-2016
maximum amount of 80 transfer credits may not earn credits through a PLA
portfolio.

Students must adhere to the College residency requirement and thus may not
earn credits through PLA as part of their final 32 credits of degree.

PLA must address the outcomes of a specific course in the current Ramapo
catalog. Portfolios may be submitted for 100-300 level courses only and may not
be used to substitute for a capstone course.
Courses petitioned through PLA must not duplicate transfer credit or any other
coursework used to fulfill degree requirements. Students who enroll in a Ramapo
course and do not earn a passing grade may not petition to earn credit for that
same course through PLA portfolio.
The credit request for a PLA portfolio must match the amount of credit normally
awarded for the course being petitioned.


Applying for PLA portfolio credits
Once the meeting is complete, the DCP Director directs the student to the appropriate
dean to discuss the portfolio option as it relates to a specific course. If the dean
determines that earning credit through PLA portfolio is appropriate for the identified
course, he or she, in consultation with the convener, will identify a faculty member to act
as the portfolio assessor.
The student then meets with the designated faculty assessor to discuss the requirements
and expectations of the portfolio. Together they determine how the student can best
demonstrate in a portfolio the kinds of knowledge, competencies, and skills acquired
through prior learning. The student and faculty assessor come to a clear understanding of
the portfolio requirements, the criteria that the assessor will use to determine if the
student has met the course learning outcomes, and the timeline for completing the
portfolio. This information is documented on the PLA Portfolio Contract which is signed by
the student, the faculty assessor, and the dean. The student is responsible for obtaining
the dean’s signature on the PLA Portfolio Contract.
Once all of the above approvals have been obtained, the dean’s office forwards the
completed PLA Portfolio Contract to the DCP Director, who posts the assessment fee to
the student’s account. The assessment fee must be paid before the portfolio can be
reviewed.
Procedure 300-H – Revised 4-28-2016
Assessing the PLA Portfolio The student submits the completed PLA portfolio to the
faculty assessor by the agreed deadline. The faculty assessor reviews the completed
PLA portfolio and meets with student if a meeting is part of the assessment. The faculty
assessor then completes the PLA Portfolio Review Sheet and either: 1) approves
awarding credit for the portfolio; 2) denies awarding credit for the portfolio; or 3) requests
a revision and re-submission of the portfolio by a specified date. Requests for
resubmission are at the discretion of the assessor, not the student. Failure to resubmit a
revised portfolio by the specified date will result in a denial of credit for the portfolio.
The faculty assessor notifies the student in writing of the assessment result, and submits
the portfolio and completed PLA Portfolio Review Sheet to the DCP Office. If credit is
awarded, the DCP Director confirms that the student has paid the PLA assessment fee. If
confirmed, the DCP Director, who posts the PLA course fee to the student’s account and
requests that the Office of the Registrar post the awarded credits to the student’s
transcript. The DCP Office forwards all portfolios approved for credit to the Office of the
Registrar for inclusion in the student’s official academic file. If a portfolio is not approved
for credit or if re-submission is requested, the DCP Office returns the portfolio to the
student.
Processing an assessor stipend
The DCP Director processes all necessary paperwork for faculty assessor compensation.
PLA portfolio fee structure
Students who receive PLA portfolio credit pay a total per-credit fee equivalent to 65% of
the total in-seat and in-state per-credit undergraduate tuition and fees for the semester in
which a student applies for PLA portfolio credit. Students pay this fee in two installments:

An assessment fee equivalent to $100 per credit petitioned paid prior to the
assessment of their portfolios. This fee is paid by all students applying for credits
through PLA portfolio. This fee is non-refundable and must be paid regardless of
the outcome of the portfolio assessment.

A post-assessment fee equivalent to the balance of the total per-credit fee after the
review of their portfolios. This fee is paid only by students who successfully earn
credit through PLA portfolio.
Procedure 300-H – Revised 4-28-2016
PROCEDURES FOR GRADUATE PRIOR LEARNING EXPERIENCE (GLEX)
Graduate students at Ramapo College of New Jersey may receive credit for graduatelevel knowledge that they have gained outside the traditional academic setting through
work, training, community service, or other accomplishments. (Not all graduate programs
accept GLEX. Please review individual program requirements.) The process of graduate
prior learning experience assessment involves the development of a portfolio and an
interview that confirms that the learning the student has achieved through his/her life
experience is relevant to the program’s learning goals.
GLEX REQUIREMENTS
When a graduate student applies to Ramapo College, he/she is made aware of the
opportunity to apply for GLEX. GLEX requirements include:
 Prior learning experience may be substituted for up to two (2) courses (not
to exceed 8 credits) in the graduate program.
 GLEX credit is considered transfer credit; therefore, the combination of
transfer credit and GLEX credit may not exceed two (2) courses or eight (8)
credits.
 A student must successfully complete (2) courses at Ramapo College
before GLEX will be posted to the student’s transcript.
 Since GLEX credits are considered 600-level, they must be completed
before registering for 700-level courses.
 The program director or designee reviews and evaluates applications for
prior learning credit and recommends the number of credits to be awarded.
The dean makes the final approval.
 GLEX credit may be granted for equivalent coursework offered at Ramapo
College.
 When the experience does not compare to a Ramapo course but falls within
the purview of the evaluator's expertise, credit may be granted as an
elective. This type of prior learning credit is recorded on the transcript as
GLEX 699 with the course name “Graduate Life Experience.”
 GLEX credits are awarded without a grade, so they are not calculated with
the student’s GPA.
Procedure 300-H – Revised 4-28-2016
 Once the GLEX portfolio is approved by the director and dean, the student
must pay the associated costs.
 All GLEX documentation, including the portfolio and interview notes, are
kept in the student’s permanent record.
CRITERIA FOR GRADUATE PRIOR LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Criteria for acceptance of prior learning experiences include:
- The experience must be relevant to the program’s learning goals.
- The experience must be comparable to graduate-level coursework.
- The experience must have taken place after the awarding of the bachelor's
degree and before enrollment in the graduate program.
- The student must document and apply for credit for the learning experience.
GLEX PROCESS
Below outlines the process by which a GLEX review begins and culminates with the
awarding of credit:
Application for approval
A GLEX proposal is presented to the director with the following items:
 A current resume.
 Documentation supporting the student’s claim to prior learning (i.e., job
descriptions and samples of work).
 A narrative explaining in detail the correlation of prior learning experience to a
specific course.
Initial Assessment
If the program director considers the proposal to be viable, the student is invited to
interview with the director. The program director, or assigned faculty member, meets with
the student to review the initial documentation and to discuss strengths and weakness of
the proposal. The student and the Program Director, or faculty member, come to a clear
understanding of the criteria that will be used to assess the specific area of expertise.
They determine how the student can best demonstrate in a portfolio the kinds of
knowledge, competencies, and skills he/she has acquired in prior experience. A timeline
is developed for completion of the portfolio. An agreement of expectations is developed
and signed by the program director, or faculty member, and the student.
Submission and Review
Procedure 300-H – Revised 4-28-2016
The student submits the portfolio for review by the agreed deadline. The program
director, or faculty member, conducts an interview with the student. The program
director, or faculty member, then completes the form and either approves or disapproves
the student’s GLEX portfolio. If approved, the director and dean then approve the posting
of the credit and submit the appropriate form to the Office of Graduate and Adult
Admissions with a copy given to the student.
If the GLEX portfolio is not approved, the program director, or faculty member, returns it
to the student.
Credit Posting
The student pays for the GLEX credit at the Bursar’s Office. The “paid” form is returned to
the Office of Graduate and Adult Admissions, and the credit is then posted once the
student has met the residency requirement and has paid the GLEX fees.
Procedure 300-H – Revised 4-28-2016