Prior Learning Assessment Question

I am planning to prepare a portfolio for a Prior Learning Assessment program at Excelsior College but am unclear on something. Hopefully someone here can help.

I am going for a Bachelors of Science in Liberal Studies but almost all of my experiential learning is based on the line of work I have been in over the past 12 years which is Biotechnology. The courses I would request credit for are more along the lines of a specified major like Biotechnology, Biology, or Microbiology. Can I apply for credit of that nature, which falls outside of the range of courses that EC offers for this degree?

Also, I have an Unofficial Summary of the credits I still need to complete the aforementioned degree. The attached image details this summary but I am unclear on EXACTLY how many credits it is saying that I need. I would greatly appreciate it if someone more familiar with "college speak" could spell this out a little more plain for me.

Thanks in advance!

Andrew

 

It looks like you need to earn 66 semester units (SU) to meet the requirement of 120 units.


You would really need to compare all your existing credits to the requirements defined in the catalog http://www.excelsior.edu/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=b559591a-1fde-4135-a958-e29c855b7826&groupId=78666 Chart 4 on page 18 summarizes the degree requirements.


From my quick review you would need to include the following semester units (SU)

• INL102 (one unit of the 60 SU elective credits)
• Capstone requirement of 3 SU
• One quantitative reasoning (math) course of at least 2 SU

Depth requirement #1 is comprised of units from the Arts and Sciences.
Depth requirement #2 is comprised of units from either the arts & sciences or professional areas.


You have to meet the upper division SU requirements (30 of which 21 must be in the arts & sciences)


It looks like you can earn up to 36 semester units in professional areas which probably would include biotech courses.


As far as portfolio courses I did not pursue this path at EC but I took a course on portfolio preparation at Redlands University years ago. Their policy was to prepare a portfolio around a course from the catalog of any regionally accredited university. More info here Portfolio Assessment - excelsior.edu


The EC catalog has a portfolio prep course listed on page 57 – probably a good course to take if you go the portfolio route. More info here Portfolio Assessment - excelsior.edu


You can earn credit by passing challenge exams such as CLEP and DSST (the latter has some upper division credit exams).


Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Ian!

 

Are you sure about this. Find a couple of college catalogs and read through all the available courses. I bet you can find several that match up with your life long learning.
Do you surf, play golf (EC allows 2 units of PE towards your BSLS degree), listen to or play music (for example CSUDH has a four year series of music appreciation - all one has to do is attend a minimum number of concerts and report on them), have a family, travel, or attend movies. You can find courses that cover these areas and more. Read how Steve Levicoff earned portfolio learning credit here DegreeInfo Distance Learning - online degree forum - The Front Page