College students could get credit for what they learned in jobs, the military, and their communities
Tomorrow the House Education Committee will hear HB 1072. The bill is called Higher Education Prior Learning Assessments.
Proposed by the Legislature’s Educational Success Task Force, the bill’s sponsors are Rep. Tom Massey (R-Poncha Springs) and Sen. Keith King (R-Colorado Springs). HB 1072 requires Colorado’s Higher Education Commission (CCHE) to develop criteria for awarding credit to a college student who has “prior learning” through work experience, military service, community involvement, or independent study — prior learning acquired after high school as an adult. If the Legislature approves the bill, CCHE would do the prep work so the program could go into effect for the 2013-14 academic year.
The bill is premised on the idea that adult learners, mobile learners, and nontraditional students are likely to come to college with learning acquired outside of traditional classrooms. They have acquired their learning from noncredit programs, corporate training, time spent in the military, volunteering, community workshops, and many other kinds of activities.
Often these students come to college and are required to pay tuition for courses in things they already know — and they consider it a waste of their time and their money.
HB 1072 calls for Prior Learning Assessments to be used to measure what a college student has learned outside of college by evaluating whether that learning is college level and how many college credits it is worth.
The bill will start tomorrow in the House Education Committee. If the House Ed Committee passes the bill, it goes to the House Appropriations Committee and then to the full House for a vote before it goes over to the Senate for consideration.
Crazy idea? Practical idea? What do you think?
Tags: CEA, Colorado colleges and universities, Colorado Education Association, Colorado higher education, Colorado House, Colorado House of Representatives, Colorado Legislature, Colorado State House, public education budget cuts, State Legislature
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January 25, 2012 at 11:20 am
In my opinion quantifying acquired knowledge through work experience seems more difficult that it looks. Many different variants can affect the quality and mastery of job related skills.
January 25, 2012 at 7:34 am
Theoretically, it’s a good idea; practically, not so much. It seems to me that an individual assessment for each instance would need to be generated and then evaluated for competency level. Isn’t this what the CLEP program is designed to provide?