Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success: A 48-Institution Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcomes
Summary
This study focuses on Prior Learning Assessment, or PLA, as an important but often overlooked strategy for helping adults progress towards a degree. PLA is the process by which many colleges evaluate, for academic credit, the college-level knowledge and skills an individual has gained outside of the classroom (or from non-college instructional programs), including employment, military training/service, travel, hobbies, civic activities, and volunteer service. Institutions may use several different PLA methods in order to award credit for prior learning and, in the process, make education more affordable and less time consuming. PLA advocates have long argued that by helping students earn credits faster and at a lower cost, PLA can significantly contribute to students’ ongoing progress – or persistence – towards a degree. However, until recently there had not been a large, multi-institutional study on the topic.
With funding from the Lumina Foundation, the Council for Adult & Experiential Learning commissioned a study on PLA and adult student outcomes. Fueling the Race presents findings based on the records of 62,475 students at 48 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. Study findings reveal that PLA students had better academic outcomes, particularly in terms of graduation rates and persistence, than other adult students. Many PLA students also shortened the time required to earn a degree, depending on the number of PLA credits earned.
Citation
Rebecca Klein-Collins (2010). Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success: A 48-Institution Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcomes. Council for Adult and Experiential Learning.
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