How Californians Can Get College Credit for Their Life Experience
Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images- California Gov. Gavin Newsom released the final framework for the Master Plan for Career Education.
- The plan includes initiatives to make Credit for Prior Learning more accessible to veterans and military members and to create a statewide system for it.
- The state is investing $100 million to implement the master plan.
- Students don’t have to wait for the plan to take effect to start earning credit for their life experiences.
Many California schools offer students the option to earn college credit through prior life or work experience. However, requirements and restrictions vary between institutions and higher education systems.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently released the final framework of the “Master Plan for Career Education,” which includes expanding the state’s Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) offerings by creating a statewide system aimed at simplifying the process for students, especially veterans and military members.
“It’s not always about what they’ve learned in college, but it’s also what they’ve learned on the job … and equate that to community colleges, to our [University of California schools] and state universities,” Stewart Knox, secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, said at a press conference.
Newsom said the new CPL system would allow for service members who had basic training “not to come back to a community college and have to take courses that they’re well familiar with and basic requirements for their education that they’ve already received in the military.”
The new system would also award credit for service learning, such as volunteering in a service corps program.
The state’s service corps is the largest in the country — consisting of more than 10,000 members and with programs including #CaliforniansForAll College Corps, California Climate Action Corps, #CaliforniansForAll Youth Jobs Corps, and AmeriCorps California.
“We also believe service should be included in the context of credit,” Newsom said. “… That’s another construct that we’ll be promoting and will be advancing as part of this larger effort.”
But students might be able to earn credit for their life experiences before the new plan goes into effect.
Ways to Earn CPL in California Now
All three public higher education systems in the state offer opportunities to earn CPL, though policies vary widely between systems.
California Community Colleges has the widest variety of CPL options, awarding CPL for qualified experiences including:
- Job experience
- Apprenticeships, internships, or other formal corporate training
- Military experience
- State or federal government training
- Volunteer and civic service (such as the Peace Corps)
- Independent study
To earn CPL, students can take an exam, submit a portfolio, or provide military transcripts, though each community college may have a different way of determining credit. California Community Colleges prioritize awarding CPL as course credit, however, general education area or elective credit is also possible.
The California State University awards CPL for prior military experience. Military members and veterans can receive credit for baccalaureate-level courses completed at an accredited two- or four-year institution or academic units, as long as the noncollegiate instruction or experience meets certain guidelines.
The University of California (UC) offers limited options for CLP and does not grant credit for work or volunteer experience, nor vocational or technical training. However, UC does offer credit for military courses, a decision made in consultation with the American Council on Education after a student has enrolled at a UC campus.
$100 Million for Career Education
The new master plan will be financed through $100 million in budget investments, though the governor’s office says the economic impact would be “immediate and substantial,” estimating veterans would save an average of $26,115 in the short term and $161,115 in lifetime benefits.
Overall, the new program would be expected to benefit 250,000 people in California, including 30,000 veterans.
In addition to expanding college credit opportunities for military service and service learning, Newsom’s plan also includes the establishment of career passports — a digital tool for employers to access verified records of an individual’s academic and professional skills and abilities.
“We are going to have a platform for people, these e-transcripts that are transferable, that take all your life experiences, all of those skills that you’ve developed, and create a passport where those skills can be utilized in the private sector and advance your opportunities as it relates to your career and your future,” Newsom said at a press conference announcing the master plan.
Additionally, Newsom announced that California has removed college degree requirements for approximately 30,000 state jobs and intends to double the number next year.
So far just over a dozen states have eliminated four-year degree requirements from the majority of state jobs.
“Every Californian deserves the opportunity to build real-life skills and pursue a fulfilling career — including those that don’t require college degrees,” Newsom said in a press release announcing the plan.
“California is working to ensure that every person has what they need to get a well-paying, long-lasting job so we can build an economy for the future that supports all families.”