When Steve Carriere decided to earn his associate degree online at Excelsior College, the 27 years he spent in the military didn’t go unnoticed.
The 50-year-old Maine resident says he was able to transfer his military and technical training into the program for college credit. He quickly finished his associate degree, graduating last July, and is now pursuing his bachelor’s online at the school.
“Having a broad variety of those electives and even some of the core classes knocked out is what really helped me have a good plan to go into this bachelor’s degree program,” he says.
For busy students with professional certifications and licenses, technical and vocational training or a military background, an online degree program that awards credit based on what they’ve already learned and accomplished might be an ideal route to take, often allowing them to save time and money on a degree.
[Discover three ways to get academic credit for military training.]
In some online programs, students can test out of classes by completing exams — such as the College-Level Examination Program or competency-based options — or by creating a portfolio that highlights their skills and achievements based on their backgrounds.
But in other cases, experts say, online students might be able to translate their work experience or military education and jobs into credits without completing those extra steps, if it easily aligns with the program’s curriculum. That might be determined through reviews conducted by groups such as the American Council on Education or the school itself.
At the University of Maryland University College, online students can receive credit toward a degree if they’ve undergone technical and vocational training in fields such as dental radiography or aircraft maintenance through an organization approved by ACE or an institution approved by UMUC.
Degree programs have offered credit for military experience, including through the Joint Services Transcript, for decades, says Kara Gwaltney, who directs corporate credit evaluations for the American Council on Education. Credit for work experience, however, started later, she says, and based on what ACE has seen is today more consistently received and accepted in programs designed for nontraditional learners such as working adults, including many online.
However, it’s ultimately “really left up to the discretion of the institution as to how those trainings may align with the students’ individual programs,” she says.
In general, accelerated pathways work well for online students who generally have already started careers and aim to advance professionally as quickly and inexpensively as possible, experts say.
[Learn how online degrees can help adults switch careers.]
“Thinking about adult students — they’re not blank slates; they’re coming to school with real-life experience,” says Matthew Prineas, vice provost and dean of the undergraduate school at UMUC. “A big part of that is recognizing that experience and helping the student recognize that experience.”
Take Felicia Deskins, who earned credit toward her associate degree for military experience at American Military University, part of the for-profit American Public University System. By the time she enrolled a few years ago, half of her degree was already completed due to transferring those credits, and she’s now pursuing a bachelor’s online.
Still, prospective online students with these credits should consider that they might miss out on opportunities to build relationships and network with classmates that they would have been able to in class, Prineas says.
Because transfer requirements and policies differ across programs, prospective online students should research their options thoroughly on school websites or contact an admissions officer for details.
To translate industry certifications — such as for Microsoft Corp. or Cisco Systems, Inc. — into credits at UMUC, for example, the certification must have been completed in the last five years and reviewed by either ACE or the National College Credit Recommendation Service. Otherwise, UMUC online students might instead turn to the test-out or portfolio option, Prineas says.
[Explore how portfolio assessments can help online students earn credit.]
Some online programs also offer credit to working students through partnerships with employers. In one option, Excelsior translates Pizza Hut’s corporate training for its staff into credit hours for those who are enrolled, says Lisa LaVigna, Excelsior’s executive director of strategic partnerships and alliances.
“It does not behoove them or us to have them sit in a class on something they already know,” LaVigna says.
Colorado State University–Global Campus also partners with 17 companies to offer employees college credit for approved internal training programs and courses, according to the school’s website.
Experts say prospective students should research their credit-transfer options and related policies in depth when choosing a best-fit program, including what will transfer and for how many credits, and whether there’s a maximum amount of work and military experience that a student can apply to their degree.
At the for-profit Kaplan University, which offers many degrees online, students may complete up to 75 percent of an undergraduate online degree using work and military experience, transfer credits and credit by examination.
David Starnes, chief academic officer at Kaplan, suggests prospective online students save all documentation they have regarding their prior experience.
“Anything like that, when you put the pieces together, can help turn it into credit,” he says.
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Earn Work, Military Experience Credit as an Online Student originally appeared on usnews.com
