Northeast Resiliency Consortium Colleges’ Prior Learning Assessment Policy, Standards Development and Practice

Abstract

This practice article describes prior learning assessment (PLA) policies and practices from four “Achieving the Dream” colleges in the Northeast Resiliency Consortium (NRC): Bunker Hill, Atlantic Cape, LaGuardia, and Passaic County Community Colleges (all located in the USA). These colleges acknowledge that college-level learning occurs on the job, in the community and in peoples’ lives.  They have developed and implemented PLA on their campuses to enable community members to earn credentials more quickly. In this effort, they have been aided by the NRC’s PLA Standards.