Leadership Institute for Continuing Education Administrators
March 24, 2015
Dr. Pamela Gibson Senegal,
VP Economic and Community Development
Central Carolina Community College
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Define what is Prior Learning Credit (PLC).
Build a multi-faceted case for doing more
with PLC at your institution.
Understand the current state of PLC in NC
Community Colleges from fall survey
results.
Identify select resources to assist your
institution with starting/furthering PLC.
Create an action plan for starting/furthering
PLC at your institution post-conference.













Military service transcript
High School credit
High school CT Credit
CLEP tests
Class attendance certificates
Student verbal verification
of skill or competency
Certifications that are more
than 10 years old
Language proficiency
Travel experiences
Certificate of appreciation
from volunteer organization
Continuing Education
classes
ESL classes
Basic Skills classes












College transfer credits
MOOCs, online classes
AP tests
Dante tests
Digital Badges
Professional development
within work settings
Conference attendance
3rd party credential earned
within 5 years
Work experience
Completion of military boot
camp
Webinar attendance
Recommendation letters
from previous faculty
Prior Learning Credit is the
result of a RIGOROUS
process by which
KNOWLEDGE and SKILLS
are evaluated for college
credit.

SACS COC Aficionados

Data wonks

Compassionate do-gooders

Policy and proceduralists

Learning first advocates

SACS COC Aficionados
◦ “SACS COC will not allow us to do this.” WRONG
◦ Articulation and transfer policies are subject to local
institutional decision-making and are largely driven
by concerns about what will pass muster with the
accreditation agency.
 The Breaking Through State Policy Initiative, North
Carolina Policy Audit, 2011
However, *
3.4.4 – Transfer Credit
Institutions must publish policies for
evaluation of transfer credit.
Documentation is needed, to include:
written policies and criteria, and evidence
that policies are accessible to students.
3.4.6 – Awarding Credit
Institutions must show evidence of a
sound academic process for awarding
credit – regardless of format or mode of
delivery. Documentation is needed, to
include written practices for evaluating
credit.
3.4.7 – Contractual Agreements
Institutions must ensure quality of
programs offered and compliance with
Principles for all contracting entities.
Documentation is needed, to include
copies of contracts, and evidence of
continual evaluation process.
3.4.8 – Credit for Non-Credit
Institution must document equivalency of
course work when granting credit for noncredit work. Documentation needed, to
include policy statements about process
and evidence that policies are published
and enforced.
* Be aware that independent accrediting organizations may have additional requirements. These are the ones that
pertain to SACS COC.


Data wonks
“The data doesn’t support us making this effort.”
WRONG
48 institution study of PLC and related adult
student outcomes* with more than 62,000
participants, over a 7 year period, compared
students with PLC to those without.
Results – PLC increased graduation rates,
persistence, and decreases time to degree
completion.
* Study conducted by CAEL with funding from the Lumina Foundation




Data wonks
Ask – what would be the economic impact of
increasing the number of degree holders in your
community?
Determine the number of associate degree
holders in the counties you serve
(www.ncworks.org).
Georgetown University’s Center on Education and
the Workforce noted that
◦ On average, certificate holders earn 20% more than
high-school-educated workers
◦ One-third of certificate holders also have an associate,
bachelor’s or master’s degree. In two-thirds of those
cases, degree holders earned the certificate first.

Compassionate do-gooders
“It’s the right thing to do.” RIGHT

CAEL/Lumina Foundation Study shows a “PLC effect”

Georgetown University’s Center on Education and Workforce
did a similar study and found the same effect.

◦ Irrespective of institution type (2 year and 4 year institutions, public and for
profits)
◦ Regardless of individual student academic ability or GPA
◦ Regardless of student age, ethnicity/race, or gender
◦ Regardless of whether or not the student receives financial aid
◦ PLC students had better outcomes.
◦ Noted that 80% of today’s college students have commitments other than
college.
“If you can help today’s working men and women leverage their college-level
knowledge and skills toward a certificate or degree, imagine the impact you will
make on your community.”




Policy and proceduralists
“It cannot be done. It is way too complicated.”
Consider starting with the PLC policies of a
SACS COC community college and then
adapting them for your local institution.
For example....
Learning first advocates
“Faculty have concern that if they didn’t teach it,
the students won’t have what they need to
succeed.” WRONG

- Guiding principles of institutions with significant
PLC options are that they are based upon the
philosophy that, “recognizes that college-level
learning does in fact take place outside of the
traditional classroom and in many cases the College
may award college-level credit for prior learning
based on a RIGOROUS process of evaluation.”

Communication/Awareness of Prior Learning

Prior Learning Categories

Prior Credit Policy and Credit Earned

Transcription of Prior Learning Credit

What Guidance is Needed?
At 86%, colleges are
overwhelmingly
depending on their
website to
communicate prior
learning options to
students.
• How many clicks from
your home page
would a student have
to use to find this
option?
• Is your institution
using language to
describe this option
that students will
understand?
The second most
used options were
Word of mouth from
faculty/staff, and
the Admissions
Office both at 74%.
• What are the
positives/negative
s with such high
dependence on
word of mouth?
• What are the
positives/negative
s of having such
high dependence
on admissions?

Communication/Awareness of Prior Learning
◦ Current methods of communicating the availability
of the prior learning credit options are woefully
inadequate for students and for internal faculty and
staff.
◦ Respondents indicated that message to motivate
faculty and staff to do more with PLC, was around
being exposed to additional research about the
value of PLC.
◦ Resultantly, few NC Community Colleges are
awarding consistently significant amounts of PLC.

Prior Learning Categories
◦ High school tests – Dual credit, AP, and CTE articulation were the
most used. Only dual credit had more than 50 or more awards
made in 2013-14.
◦ Life Experience – DSS (formerly known as DANTES) most utilized.
Most institutions actually awarded none or fewer than 10 awards
in 2013-14.
◦ Third Party Awards – CLEP was the most utilized. Most institutions
actually awarded none or fewer than 10 awards in 2013-14.
◦ Local institution based award – Transfer credit from another
institution and challenge exams/credit by exam were the most
utilized. Transfer credits awarded were more than 50 awards,
while challenge exams had none or fewer than 10 awards.

Prior Credit Policy and Credit Earned
◦ CE to CU – 60% of institutions had no formal process by
which students can receive college credit for completion
of specific CE courses.
◦ Military credit – 60% of institutions indicated having a
formal process for awarding credit.*
◦ Third party credentials – 65% have no formal process for
standard amounts of credit to be awarded for specific
credentials.
* Standard award for military service is for PED 112, Physical Fitness II, a transfer
elective, a one credit hour course.


Transcription of Prior Learning Credit
Locally based decisions regarding course
short title and transcript code have created a
hodge podge of transcript content across our
system
Course
Transcript Code
Institution 1
APENG
Ap English 111/112
Institution 2
APLANG
English Language & Composition
Institution 3 APENG
Institution 4 APENG
AP English Language
Institution 5 APENG
Advanced Placement English

What Guidance is Needed?
◦ Standardized recommendations for awarding credit
for various types of PLC
◦ Best practices from other institutions
◦ SACS COC compliant processes
◦ Consistency across NC Community Colleges










ACE – American Council on Education
AICE – Advanced International Certificate of Education
CAEL – Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
CLEP – College Level Examination Program
JST – Joint Services Transcript for military training
Learningcounts.org
NCCRS – National College Credit Recommendation Service
NILOA - National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment
SOCS – Service members Opportunity Colleges
SACS-COC – Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges

Florida has the most aggressive and
formalized general statutes on this topic
which include an appointed 14 member state
Articulation Coordinating Committee, with
the specific charge of, “developing guidelines
for inter-institutional articulation
agreements, examining statewide articulation
data, and maintaining student transcript
records.” (Higher Education Policies website,
12-13).

FLORIDA’s Gold
Standard Career
Pathways
Articulation
Agreements of
Industry
Certification to
AAS/AS Degree
2013
Prior Learning Credit Resource Page Framework
How to Use this Guidance Document
Prior Learning Credit Definitions and Options
Accreditation – SACSCOC principles
Research and Resources
Communication Strategies
Implementation and Logistics
NC Community College System Office
will provide a resource page with links
to options that can be the basis for
your institution’s local plan.
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

Start with high demand occupations
Utilize parallel courses
Establish career pathways with built in articulations
Approach industries with rigorous training programs about articulation
Map occupational courses to third party credentials
Enlist credit faculty to teach gateway courses
Start with two people – an ally and someone with passion
Create a cross functional team to develop policies
Assess how PLC fits with your institution’s current strategic plan
Run a pilot program to build the case for increased outcomes
Create a transparent marketing plan
 Ongoing internal training of frontline staff
 Training of external workforce partners
 Updates to website information with non-educational language.
Choose at least two of the above options for beginning this work
at your local institution.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Define what is Prior Learning Credit (PLC).
Build a multi-faceted case for doing more
with PLC at your institution.
Understand the current state of PLC in NC
Community Colleges from fall survey
results.
Identify select resources to assist your
institution with starting/furthering PLC.
Create an action plan for starting/furthering
PLC at your institution post-conference.

Call Barbara 
Dr. Pamela G. Senegal
919.718.7254
psene563@cccc.edu