Postsecondary institutions have a number of decisions to make in designing Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) offerings, including the specific assessment options they make available to students, how assessments of prior learning are administered, what to charge for CPL, how to maintain high academic standards, and so on. States, systems, and private…

The CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) announce the inaugural winners of the Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) Equity Awards, recognizing strategies that have been proven to put CPL in reach of key adult learner populations and/or increase their CPL credit-earning.…

The Latino and Adult Student Success (LASS) Academy is a multi-year initiative administered by CAEL (the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) focused on supporting Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in their efforts to improve outcomes for adult and Latino adult learners. In its first phase, from 2018 through 2021, the LASS Academy…

Within the next few years the majority of jobs in the U.S. will require some type of postsecondary credential. However, less than half of adults in this country currently possess a credential beyond high school. Though they may not have a college degree to show for it, most adults have likely gained significant and valuable learning through their…

The adult learner is often defined by age (25 years or older) as an easy way to distinguish this group from students who head to college straight out of high school. But age is insufficient as a defining factor. The growing popularity of other terms like nontraditional student--and more recently, terms like post-traditional student or today's…

Previous research from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) found that prior learning assessment/credit for prior learning (PLA/CPL) 1 has a positive effect on adult student credential completion--an effect that was evident for every student subgroup analyzed in a…

In 2012, CAEL released the report "Competency-Based Degree Programs in the U.S.: Postsecondary Credentials for Measurable Student Learning and Performance," which examined the current state of competency-based postsecondary education in the U.S., profiling the various types of competency-based, or competency-focused, models that…

Today the U.S. higher education system is facing a crisis regarding its perceived quality. One model for improving quality is competency-based education, in which an institution clearly defines the specific competencies expected of its graduates. A key challenge is how to help more people, particularly adults, succeed at the post¬secondary level…