As an adult student, you may have any number of learning experiences that may be evaluated and applied to receive academic credit, including:
- Courses recognized by the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Center for Lifelong Learning.
- Occupations with validated job-proficiency evaluation systems.
- Programs offered by the military and by civilian organizations, such as businesses, corporations, government agencies, training providers, institutes, and labor unions.
Types of Assessment
Walden offers a variety of ways to assess whether your prior learning experience is eligible for academic credit, including:
- Credit by Portfolio: You can apply for credit recognized by ACE after developing a portfolio through the Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL) via LearningCounts.org. For this option, you will first consult with a member of the Academic Advising Team as a Walden student. If appropriate, you will then speak with a Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL) advisor and complete a Letter of Permission. Next steps include:
- Enrolling in the LearningCounts.org CAEL 100 course. This six-week course prepares you to create your portfolio for evaluation in order to earn college credit. This LearningCounts course only needs to be taken once regardless of the number of portfolios created. By completing this course, you can earn three credits that can be transferred to Walden as elective credit. Course fee is $500.
- Creating your portfolio and requesting an evaluation. Portfolios are evaluated by trained CAEL evaluators. CAEL will evaluate portfolios for credit and award credit on an American Council on Education (ACE CREDIT) transcript. Each portfolio costs $250.
- Requesting that an official CAEL transcript be submitted to Walden.
- Professional Certifications: If you are a member of certain professional organizations, you may be able to translate your certifications into academic credit for a number of our online degree programs. Learn more.
- Credit by Examination: Prior learning credit can be awarded by examination through:
- Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES)
- College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)
- Excelsior College Examinations
- Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma
You will need to contact the appropriate accrediting organization to arrange your assessment. Please contact an enrollment advisor to learn more. Request information, call 1-866-492-5336 in the United States, or see a list of international toll-free phone numbers.