Turn demonstrated learning into a degree requirement
Colleges That Give Credit for Life Experience
Colleges that give credit for life experience assess what you've learned. These online bachelor’s options give you specific assessment routes to compare alongside a review of your college transfer credits. A job title, a training certificate, and a portfolio provide different evidence, and each college decides what it will recognize.
How Colleges That Give Credit for Life Experience Assess Learning
These selections connect a documented assessment route with a specific degree. Start with the method that fits your learning, then confirm the approval process and the coursework you must still complete.
Franklin identifies certifications linked to particular coursework. TESU describes a course-based portfolio process. Monroe helps students build a prior-learning portfolio. Charter Oak evaluates specified nontraditional credit sources, and UMGC sets clear limits on how assessed learning can fit the major.
This shortlist includes 5 online degree offerings at 5 colleges. Compare transfer credit policies with the requirements of your chosen major. Check each program’s schedule and any laboratory, fieldwork, or campus commitments before enrolling.
How we select programs
This editorial order begins with program-specific certification credit, then compares portfolio assessment and other evaluated learning. Selection depends on published policy and its relationship to the named bachelor's degree. The position is not a forecast of the credits an individual will receive.
For planning assessed learning around a business majorOnline
Transfer Credits
Up to 90 transfer credits from four-year schools or 70 from two-year schools, subject to evaluation and degree requirements.
The programs, with context
Online Colleges That Award Prior-Learning Credit
For Recognized IT Certifications
Franklin University
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology
OnlineTransfer entry route
Franklin's IT degree identifies networking, security, project management, and systems certifications that can replace selected coursework. If you already hold a technical credential, ask which current equivalency applies to that credential and where the course sits in your bachelor's requirements.
Before you apply: Certification credit does not remove the 30-credit Franklin requirement. The major's capstone must also be completed at Franklin.
TESU's portfolio process asks you to demonstrate learning equivalent to a college course. The university supplies learning outcomes and describes evidence such as work samples, training records, and supporting letters. Its Liberal Studies bachelor's gives you a defined curriculum to discuss with the assessment office.
Before you apply: TESU excludes capstones, internships, and some other direct-experience courses from portfolio assessment. Confirm an eligible requirement before preparing a portfolio.
Transfer Credits
TESU accepts up to 90 credits from regionally accredited community colleges; submit official transcripts for a degree evaluation.
Monroe's Professional Studies program describes a support team that helps you compile a Prior Learning Portfolio. It reviews learning from employment, training, certifications, examinations, and other experience for relevance, substance, and extent. You can connect that review with a chosen professional specialization.
Before you apply: The degree includes a final integrative project and at least 30 credits at Monroe. The assessment determines how prior learning fits the degree.
Charter Oak accepts some ACE-recommended and non-collegiate credit under provider-specific transfer policies. Its General Studies degree lets you develop an individualized concentration with faculty review. An advisor can help connect a proposed credit source to that plan before you enroll in extra courses.
Before you apply: Charter Oak recommends waiting until enrollment and advisor discussion before taking courses or exams. Upper-level and concentration requirements remain part of the degree.
Transfer Credits
Prior credits and online courses can be used toward the General Studies degree.
For Planning Assessed Learning Around a Business Major
University of Maryland Global Campus
BS in Business Administration and Management
OnlineTransfer entry route
UMGC's business program identifies credit for prior learning among its routes to credit. Its degree requirements explain an important limit: at least half the major must be graded coursework, and examinations, portfolios, and noncollegiate training do not meet that graded-coursework requirement.
Before you apply: You must also take at least 30 credits through UMGC, including half the major and 15 upper-level credits. Build assessment choices around those requirements.
Transfer Credits
Up to 90 transfer credits from four-year schools or 70 from two-year schools, subject to evaluation and degree requirements.
Degree Requirements
At least 30 credits through UMGC, including half the major and 15 upper-level credits, within the 120-credit degree.
Organize your previous college credits in the degree planner, then take your course list and questions to a school’s transfer advisor. The school’s evaluation determines which credits count toward your degree.
Choose Between a Portfolio, an Exam, and Evaluated Training
A portfolio fits learning you can explain and document against course outcomes. An exam demonstrates knowledge of a defined subject. Evaluated training starts with a course or credential that has a published credit recommendation. Gather the evidence you actually have before choosing an assessment.
TESU's portfolio guidance shows the level of detail involved: connect your learning to the course objectives, then support the connection with records and examples. A list of responsibilities is only a starting point.
Plan College Transfer Credits and Prior-Learning Credit Together
Have the college review your college transfer credits and proposed prior-learning assessments against the same degree plan. Ask which course or requirement each award would satisfy: general education, the major, upper-level work, or electives. Confirm whether any proposed assessment overlaps coursework already accepted before paying to have the same learning evaluated twice.
Keep requirements that must be completed at the university in view. UMGC's graded-major rule and Franklin's capstone rule show why a broad credit allowance cannot settle the remaining-course plan.
Request the assessment criteria, required documentation, preparation steps, and fees together. Ask what happens if the assessor awards fewer credits than you expected. For an exam, confirm the required result and how the award would apply before registering.
ACE recommends contacting the college directly because institutions make their own credit decisions. Charter Oak likewise advises discussing planned courses and exams with your academic advisor. Keep the response with your degree plan so you can revisit it if your major changes.
Questions About Colleges That Give Credit for Life Experience
Do Colleges That Give Credit for Life Experience Award Credit for Years Worked?+
The assessment focuses on demonstrated college-level learning. TESU asks you to show that your knowledge meets course outcomes. Monroe evaluates the relevance, substance, and extent of practical experience. Time in a job does not establish those connections by itself.
Can Professional Certifications Count Toward a Bachelor's Degree?+
Some programs evaluate specified certifications for course credit. Franklin's IT degree identifies several technical certification categories. Ask the school to confirm the current credential equivalency and its role in your degree.
Can I Replace Every Remaining Course With a Portfolio?+
Check the program's exclusions and university coursework requirements. TESU excludes capstones and certain direct-experience courses from portfolio assessment. UMGC requires graded coursework for at least half the major, which examinations and portfolios do not satisfy.
Does an ACE Credit Recommendation Guarantee College Credit?+
The college makes the decision. ACE recommends asking the institution where to send documentation and which prior-learning policies apply. A recommendation helps document learning, while the college determines the award and degree applicability.
Should I Take a CLEP Exam Before Choosing a College?+
Check the receiving college's exam policy, approval procedures, and timing first. College Board also recommends confirming whether CLEP credit will meet requirements in the intended major and whether previous CLEP awards will transfer.
Program details come from the schools’ own degree, admission, transfer, and tuition pages. Program selection follows the criteria stated above. Each school determines how your previous coursework applies.
