Alternative college credit: How you can make life experience count

Are you a working adult who needs some additional training? You may be considering pursuing a college degree. It can be daunting to study even part-time while holding down a job and keeping up with a family, so you might be wondering if there are ways you can shorten the time it will take for you to earn a new qualification. Maybe you've even seen ads online for "life experience" degrees.

The bad news is that you can't earn an entire degree based on your life experiences, no matter how varied or exciting that experience is. The good news is there are ways to make professional or military experience count toward college credit. In non-traditional college credit options, like online degree program, your experiences could be valuable.

What kind of experience might count?

If you've been in the workplace for a while, you've probably gained college-level knowledge of some subject or another.

If you've served in the armed forces, there's even more of a chance that you've learned something that could potentially earn you college credit, depending on the nature of your service.

The DANTES program (Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support), run by the Department of Defense, aims to help veterans pursue higher education by helping them earn credit for knowledge gained through their military occupations. They provide a manual, the Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services (also called the ACE Guide), that lays out what college courses relate to which military training courses you might have attended.

Standardized test options for non-traditional credit

Most institutions will require you to take a standardized test to prove that your experiential knowledge is up to college-level standards. These tests aren't free - total costs per test can be close to $100, including fees and study materials - but they are much less expensive than the costs of attending traditional or online courses. (College courses cost a few hundred dollars per credit hour, and most courses are about three credit hours.) The two most widely accepted standardized tests for alternative credits are:

CLEP tests: Run by the College Board, who also administers the SATs for high school students, the College-Level Examination Program tests cover more than 30 subjects. Topics include business-focused material and general education material.

Credits earned from passing a CLEP Test are accepted by 2,900 institutions. Credit awarded will vary by school and according to your score, but generally you might earn one to three credit hours per test. As of July 1, 2010, CLEP Tests cost $77 each. Qualifying veterans can have their fees reimbursed after taking the exams.

DSST Exams: Run by Prometric, a company that provides assessment and certification tests to educators and employers, the 38 DSST Exams focus more on social sciences and business than the CLEP Tests do.

Almost 2,000 schools accept DSST Exam results for credit. As of June 2010, the fee to sit for a DSST Exam was $80, with the possibility of extra administrative fees from the testing center. Again, military veterans may be eligible to have fees waived or reimbursed.

Making sure your alternative credits count

Before you sign up to take any of these tests, you need to be sure that the schools you want to study at will accept the credits you earn from them. Call or schedule a meeting with an admissions advisor to find out:

* Whether the school accepts alternative credits

* What scores they accept as passing (this could vary by school)

* How many credits you can expect to earn per test

* How many non-traditional credits overall you are limited to (most schools will only let you "pass out" of a few courses)

Once you know you have the opportunity to gain credit from these tests, you can find out from the testing company where and when exams will be held. Testing centers are hosted within schools and other institutions around the country.

Information in this article was provided by American InterContinental University Online, an online learning university offering career-focused education at the associate, bachelor and master degree levels. Contact AIU Online today if you're interested in developing marketable knowledge and career-relevant skills with an industry-current degree program. (AIU Online does not guarantee employment or salary. Acceptance of transfer credit is at the sole discretion of AIU.)

Courtesy of ARAcontent