I have a ton of ACE certifications, training courses, classes at unaccredited colleges, etc. I need to find a school that has a good prior learning assessment program so I can hopefully obtain some college credits for all this education. Can anyone advise me on this issue? Thanks. Terri

Portfolio credit - Thomas Edison State College or maybe Charter Oak State College. Excelsior College does not do portfolio credit but accepts portfolio credit done by others.  If you've got an assortment of credits, you can transfer in 100 % of the credits required for a degree.  These schools also accept CLEP and DSST exams for credit.  Excelsior accepts subject GRE exams for up to 30 credits.  The simplest way to get credit for an unaccredited course is to write a corresponding CLEP etc. exam.

 

 

 

There is another school which is quite accepting of prior learning assessment credits, and I sort of consider them the fourth of the so-called "Big Three" schools:  Athabasca University.  It is a Canadian university, but it is regionally accredited in the U.S.  They accept a lot of prior credit, and if I remember correctly, you are only required to complete 30 credit hours with them in order to get a degree.  They also have a 3-year bachelor's degree option, which is acceptable for entry into some graduate degree programs in the U.S. (but certainly not all). 

 

Yes, if I recall correctly one can transfer up to 100% of credit into Athabasca's three year Bachelor of General Studies program (but not any of their four year programs).  I'm not aware of any university in either Canada or the U.S. that will accept it as qualifying a student for graduate study, though -- who'll do that?

-=Steve=- 

According to their web sites:

 

The University of North Dakota states "three-year degrees from other countries may also be considered" for admission into graduate programs.

The University of Alabama:  " recognized foreign institutions with three-year bachelor’s degrees will have the opportunity to. enter graduate study"

Syracuse University will consider "a three year bachelor’s degree from Quebec"

 The University of Wisconsin says " it depends on your degree and university".

 

There are graduate schools which specifically state a three-year degree is NOT acceptable for entry into graduate programs.  The bottom line:  when in doubt, ask. 

 

 

tcord1964:

There is another school which is quite accepting of prior learning assessment credits, and I sort of consider them the fourth of the so-called "Big Three" schools:  Athabasca University.  It is a Canadian university, but it is regionally accredited in the U.S.  They accept a lot of prior credit, and if I remember correctly, you are only required to complete 30 credit hours with them in order to get a degree.  They also have a 3-year bachelor's degree option, which is acceptable for entry into some graduate degree programs in the U.S. (but certainly not all). 

 

May be they are, but at a cost to your bank account. See the price copied from their web site:

Course Tuition Fees (includes all required materials)
•	Students living in Canada:	$1,350
•	Students living outside Canada:	$1,550

I know Excelsior "banks" credits.  Also Ashford will transfer 99 credits of a 120 credit BS degree program.  That's just over 1 semester of work left to do...

Be aware that just because a school banks credits doesn't mean that other schools necessarily pay that any mind.  Credit banking (usually) isn't a magical process where non-academic stuff is transformed into portable college credit.  (I say usually because of Frederick Community College transcripting free online FEMA courses, but that's an extremely specialized example.)

-=Steve=- 

Do you know how well these schools (Thomas Edison State College, Charter Oak State College, or Excelsior College) are accepted for graduate or MBA schools/programs? Does it reveal if the credits were done through portfolio credit, prior learning, or exams? I want to finish my Bachelors and then surely do a grad program, but I think I should probably take advantage of prior learning because I already have an eight-year business communications career in a multinational. Please let me know of any tips you might have. Thanks!

A degree from any of the big three should suffice just fine to get into most MBA programs though you should be aware that GRE or GMAT scores may have an equally weighty impact upon your acceptance or lack thereof into many graduate programs.

Which MBA program were you considering?

 

MMichele:

Do you know how well these schools (Thomas Edison State College, Charter Oak State College, or Excelsior College) are accepted for graduate or MBA schools/programs? Does it reveal if the credits were done through portfolio credit, prior learning, or exams? I want to finish my Bachelors and then surely do a grad program, but I think I should probably take advantage of prior learning because I already have an eight-year business communications career in a multinational. Please let me know of any tips you might have. Thanks!

My transcript from Charter Oak State College clearly shows the source of all credit applied to my degree, only six credits of which is from Charter Oak itself.  Nevertheless, I got into a top-30 program in my field, although that was Education, not Business.

Unless you're trying to get into Harvard, I expect that your GPA, GMAT scores, and Statement of Purpose are likely to be much more important.

As an aside, prior learning assessments aren't easy, and I didn't bother with them since they looked like so much work.  It was easier (and as I recall no more expensive) to CLEP out of requirements.

-=Steve=-