Recognition of prior learning (RPL), prior learning assessment (PLA), or prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR), describes a process used by colleges and universities around the world to evaluate learning acquired outside the classroom for the purpose of assigning academic credit. Common ways individuals have acquired college-level learning include: corporate or military training; work experience; civic activity; and independent study.
Methods to assess prior learning are varied and include: standardized exams such as those delivered by the College Board, the Excelsior College Examination Program or DANTES Subject Standardized Tests Program; American Council on Education (ACE) Guides to credit recommendations for civilian and military training programs; evaluations of local training programs by local colleges, campus challenge exams; and portfolio assessments of experiential learning.
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Prior learning assessment is a process that might save a person time as well as money in completing a certificate or degree program. The process reviews learning that may have been mastered through a variety of life experiences, including professional responsibilities, civic and volunteer experiences, military and corporate training, and independent study. Through Prior Learning Assessment, individuals with learning that has been acquired outside of a formal classroom setting have the opportunity to have that learning reviewed for college-level equivalency. The process of reviewing extra-curricular (or co-curricular) learning for college-level credits has been used in the United States since the 1930s, with concentrated research and study into the area emerging since the 1970s.
Initial research into the prior learning assessment practice and implementation was conducted by the Educational Testing Service, which launched a subsidiary organization dedicated only to prior learning assessment. Through an ever-increasing demand for its research expertise, this special sub-group quickly became an independent non-profit organization, now known as The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). Since 1974, CAEL has worked with postsecondary institutions, state boards of regents, and individuals by establishing and disseminating high quality standards for the awarding of credit through assessment, by training faculty evaluators and administrators in PLA practices, and by conducting research on the outcomes of these efforts and disseminating it widely throughout the postsecondary community. CAEL has emphasized the assessment and promotion of experiential learning for adults and is responsible for the development of several landmark publications on the topic, including Assessing Learning: Standards, Principles, & Procedures (in which a set of research-based standards for best practices in assessing learning is outlined) and Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success: a 48-Institution Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcomes (in which prior learning assessment is linked to positive academic outcomes, including improved retention and graduation rates).