Gain Life Or Work Experience Credits in an Online Degree

As an educational consultant for working professionals, I often hear this scenario: "I have worked for 10 years, taken corporate classes, taught myself software skills, served as a supervisor, etc. Surely, this experience should count for some college credits?" This answer is Yes... and No. The experience itself (being a supervisor) does not count for college credits. However, the learning might become credits. How does a working professional who is going back to school gain some credits from prior learning and work experience? There are several ways to gain credits, although not all schools offer all the following options: o Gain college credits through military classes and training. If you have served in the military and have a DD 214 or DD 295, you might receive some college credits for that military experience. Even basic "boot camp" might earn credits for health or Physical Education at some online colleges. If you have taken classes, training or served as an officer, your military transcript will reflect these training courses. The American Council on Education (ACE) reviews the training classes and recommends college credit for classes, training and your Military Occupation Specialty (MOS). You may already have a transcript of the ACE military credit recommendation in your SMART or AARTS report, if you have been in the military recently. o Gain college units through licenses, certificates and corporate training. American Council on Education also publishes guides for credit recommendation for licenses, certificates and corporate training. Most colleges and universities, including online colleges, will accept ACE recommendations of credits. Some licenses and certificates have recommended college units, including: Dale Carnegie, Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals, American Management Association and Learning Tree, among many others. Training classes from American Bankers Association, Berlitz International, FAA, College of Financial Planning and many others are included in the guidebook or the website. o Gain credits through corporate courses. Some online colleges will review your corporate classes (those courses not in the ACE Guide) and grant credit for training. Usually the rule is "one credit for each 40 hours in the corporate classroom", but can vary depending on the school. So, a corporate class that was 2 full weeks (80 hours) might be worth 2 college credits. A combination of military credits, certificates, licenses, corporate classes and other prior learning will shorten the time to complete a college degree. Make sure you ask the online college representative if any of your prior learning could be evaluated to see if it could be converted to college credits.