Get Academic Credit for Your Life Experience
Students enter college with a variety of different skill sets and experiences, which may count toward college-level credit. 91看片网 College wants to recognize your knowledge by applying it toward a degree or certificate.
Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) is college credit awarded for skills and knowledge you鈥檝e acquired outside of the classroom. Examples of prior learning include:
- Military training
- State/federal government training
- Apprenticeships, internships, certifications, licenses, and other industry training
- Validated volunteer and civic activities (ex. Peace Corps)
- Standardized examinations (ex. AP, CLEP, IB, DSST, DLPT)
- Credit by examination
- Other (ex. Portfolio Assessment)
The Benefits of CPL
Earning college credit through CPL can help you:
- Save time and money. You can shorten the amount of time to obtain your degree or certificate and, therefore, lower the cost of tuition.
- Accelerate your academic progress. You can take higher level courses sooner while increasing your motivation towards graduation.
- Honor and appreciate the different ways you learn throughout life. Taking the opportunity to validate your knowledge increases self-confidence and self-esteem.
- The student must have an active CCCApply student identification number
- Although a Comprehensive Student Education Plan is not needed to begin the Credit for Prior Learning process, students must have an official Comprehensive Student Education Plan in place in order for awarded credit to be transcripted
- The course must be listed in the current 91看片网 College Catalog
- The student should not register for the course if there is already an approved CPL agreement and they intend to submit for CPL.
- Grading shall be according to the regular grading system in accordance with Administrative Procedure 4230 Grading and Academic Record Symbols
- Students shall be offered a 鈥淧ass/No Pass鈥� option, in accordance with Administrative Procedure 4232 Pass/No Pass Grading, if that option is ordinarily available for the course
- Pursuant to AP 4230 Grading and Academic Record Symbols and AP 4231 Grade Changes, students shall be given the opportunity to accept, decline or appeal the grade assigned by the faculty including cases of Credit by Examination
- The student鈥檚 academic record shall be clearly annotated to reflect that credit was earned by assessment of prior learning
- Credit earned by Credit for Prior Learning for a course shall be applied in the same
way as if the course was completed by the student having enrolled in the course. This
includes as appropriate:
- California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC)
- California Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum
(IGETC) - California State University General Education (CSUGE) Breadth
- Local community college general education requirements or requirements for a student's chosen program, or
- Electives for students who do not require additional general education or program credits to meet their goals
A student who earns a score of 3 or higher on a College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exam in a subject area that is similar to a subject area required for the 91看片网 local General Education (GE) pattern may use the AP exam in lieu of a college course to satisfy the local GE area. In addition, for purposes of attaining 60 degree applicable units needed to earn an Associate鈥檚 degree, 91看片网 will award the same amount of unit credit for each AP exam as is awarded by the California State University system. (e.g. AP U.S. History is awarded 6 semester credits towards an Associate鈥檚 degree).
The acceptance of an AP exam in satisfaction of a major-specific course work is a decision made by the faculty at the college or university that will be awarding the degree. The determination about whether an individual AP exam is accepted in lieu of major specific course work for a particular major varies significantly from campus to campus. On a case-by-case basis, decisions about the applicability of an AP exam towards a major specific course required for a local 91看片网 College degree (non-transfer) may be made by 91看片网 discipline faculty.
For any AP examination that the District does not offer a course similar in content, the District will award credit in the General Education area shown on the California Community College General Education AP List. If there is no General Education area that fits the AP Examination, the District may award elective credit.
Students requesting Credit for Prior Learning using International Baccalaureate (IB) shall receive credit for completing a satisfactory score on a District approved Higher level (HL) International Baccalaureate (IB) examination under the following circumstances:
- Official IB transcripts must be on file in the Records Office
- The student achieved a minimum acceptable score on the IB examination as recommended by the District鈥檚 IB equivalency guide
Students requesting Credit for Prior Learning using the College Level Examination Program shall receive credit for completing a satisfactory score on a District-approved College Level Examination Program (CLEP) under the following circumstances:
- Official CLEP transcripts must be on file in the Records Office
- The student achieved a minimum acceptable score on the CLEP examination as recommended by the District鈥檚 CLEP Equivalency Guide
Students interested in Credit for Prior Learning using Joint Service Transcripts shall receive credit as recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE) Directory and approved by the appropriate discipline faculty of the college under the following circumstances:
- Official transcripts/records must be on file in the Records Office. These may include Joint Services Transcript (JST), Sailor/Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcript (SMART), Army and American Council on Education Registry Transcript Service (AARTS), Community College of the Air Force (CCAF), Coast Guard Institute (CGI), DANTES/USAFI, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Transcripts (DLIFLC), Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), DLPT Examinee Results, DA Form 330 Language Proficiency Questionnaire, or verified copies of DD214 or DD295 military records.
- Credit course equivalency shall be determined by the faculty of the appropriate discipline.
Students interested in Credit for Prior Learning using industry-recognized credential(s) shall receive credit as recommended by the appropriate division chair or faculty designee:
- The student submits all industry-recognized credential documents to the designee for assessment of prior learning
- Credit course equivalency shall be determined by the faculty of the appropriate discipline.
Students interested in Credit for Prior Learning using a student-created portfolio shall receive credit as recommended by the appropriate division chair or faculty designee under the following circumstances:
- A department approved portfolio assessment rubric for the course is on file
- The student meets with the division chair or faculty designee to receive further instructions for student-created portfolio assessment
- The student submits all portfolio documents to the division chair or faculty designee for assessment of prior learning
- Credit course equivalency shall be determined by the faculty of
the appropriate discipline.
Students wishing to take a course through Credit by Examination are encouraged to informally discuss the matter with the division chair or faculty designee and instructor prior to initiating the formal process. All steps must be completed in the order listed or the Petition for Credit by Examination shall not be processed. The Petition for Credit by Examination must be completed prior to the end of the current semester or session.
- The student must be in good academic standing with the district to earn Credit by Exam.
- Upon satisfactory completion of an exam administered by the District, college credit will be awarded according to the previously approved course(s) for that exam.
- Credit course equivalency shall be determined by the faculty of the appropriate discipline.