Credit for Work Experience, College Students

While the concept of awarding college credit for learning outside of the classroom has existed for decades, the idea has gained a new popularity in recent years. In addition to traditional programs, such as externships that encourage current students to seek extracurricular opportunities for credit, many schools are applying [Page 158]the same principal to enrolling students. Advocates believe that offering new students credit for work experience completed prior to enrollment has the potential to address some of the most pressing human capital and equity concerns in higher education today, namely increasing college attainment and the affordability of a college education in the United States. Awarding credit for work experience can encourage adults and other nontraditional students to enroll in or complete college degrees, which can ...