Students at Weber State University saved an estimated $7 million in tuition last year by getting credit for using real-world experience — not just classroom instruction.
The Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) program allows students to receive college credit for knowledge gained outside of regular coursework at the university, getting them to graduation sooner.
“This is a great way to recognize the valuable professional experiences that many of our students bring to their educational journey,” said Molly Sween, Department of Criminal Justice chair. “Our department recognizes the time and money that goes into college, and we hope this leads to more efficient degree paths for students.”
A few departments already have some things in place, said Lani Shepard, assistant registrar for records operations. “Computer science has challenge exams for their 1000 and 2000 level courses but more recently in some of our departments, like criminal justice, four of their 1000 level classes are available to take a challenge exam.”
There are some additional eligibility requirements students have to meet with criminal justice, she said. “They have to have worked in that industry for three years before they think they have enough knowledge to pass those exams.”
The departments have put together an exam with an assessment that allows students to demonstrate not just that they did something in the field or that they have experience in that field, but that they have university-level knowledge in both theoretical and practical frameworks where they can demonstrate that university level learning, said Shepard.
That’s also a way some of their professional licensure might be applied to course work here, she said. “So automotive, nursing, radiologic sciences are all departments where your professional licensure or certifications in that field may be used here for credit.”
PLA is meant to be applicable to a student’s degree pathway or program of study, sometimes called a major, Shepard said. “So they’re meant to be useful to that. We would like to see them meeting requirements for their degree. Sometimes they end up in the elective space.”
Another type of PLA that Weber offers is for active and retired military, she said. “That may be based on training that they had or may be based on their time in the service. We have two options for our military members and one of those counts as general education, so that’s a great one to qualify for.”
The other one is a review of the training and a lot of times that ends up being elective credits if available, said Shepard. “But if for some reason they get done all the things they need to do for their degree and they still have this space between all the things that they did for a bachelor’s degree, it would be 120 credit hours. Then they can use those elective hours from their military training to fill out space.”
PLA also includes AP, CLEP and ACT exams, she said. “So if someone finds a department where they don’t have a department challenge exam available, they might check our CLEP page. There are many CLEP tests there. We don’t accept all of them, so students would want to check Weber State’s webpage.”
Weber State has also expanded the number of pathways from partner schools such as Ogden-Weber Technical College and Davis Technical College, giving students more opportunities to earn a certificate from the partner institution and continue at Weber State without repeating coursework or losing credits, according to information provided.
“These efforts contribute to retention and persistence to graduation,” Shepard said. “And it shows students that we recognize what they bring and see them as a whole person here, not just a number.”
For more information visit www.weber.edu/.
