Redesign of Prior Learning Assessment in an Award-Winning Degree Completion Program

Abstract

In the 21st century economic landscape, many argue the importance of a college degree, as entry into many occupations now requires advanced credentials. Pursuing a college degree costs time and money, often presenting barriers to those pursuing the dream. Prior learning assessment (PLA) offers a solution to spend less time and money earning a college degree by documenting outside learning. PLA shortens time-to-degree, reduces tuition costs, supports student persistence, and boosts degree completion, particularly for adult learners (non- and post-traditional students) and underserved populations. The purpose of this article was to examine PLA within an award-winning degree completion program primarily serving adult learners in order to improve practice. Aligned with the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning's (CAEL) standards for assessing learning, this article discusses the degree completion program, PLA course and competency portfolio, block credit competency model and block credit competency model and portfolio assessment, program administration, and implications.

College Credit for Heroes: Accelerating Degree Completion

“…BC-PLA has become a significant champion and impetus for educational and social justice by providing recognition of knowledge and access to postsecondary education historically unavailable in traditional higher education institutions (Klein-Collins et al, 2018). BC-PLA aims to provide a holistic approach to valuing learning from realworld experiences, training, professional work, and other nontraditional learning methods (Boden et al, 2019;Travers, 2012).…”

Block Credit Prior Learning Assessment Theory to Practice

“…The award is posted to the student's transcript as a block of credit hours, by occupation title, comprising lower-level and upper-level credit. The BAAS program is somewhat unique in awarding block credit (Boden et al, 2019), and the program's proprietary in-house model, Block Credit Prior Learning Assessment (BC-PLA), aligns with the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning's (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, 2020) standards for assessing learning (see Table 1). In the next section, we elaborate on the BC-PLA and present the methods for the study.…”