9 Credit for Prior Learning Policy

Now that we have explored learning theories and you’ve started re-engineering how you learned the things you know well, we will begin the process of building your Prior Learning portfolio, which you’ll use to officially challenge courses for credit.

As a reminder from the Introduction to this textbook, the Prior Learning Portfolio consists of three sections:

• The Resumes
  • There will be two different resumes included: a traditional resume and the PLA resume.
    • The PLA resume is orgainzed by your skills and expertise, rather than a chronological record of your employment
    • The traditional resume—you know what that is!
  • Through your resumes, you will highlight more detail about your responsibilities and accomplishments that have supported learning.
  • The resumes provide the reviewing committee with a timeline and demonstrates the progression of learning.
  • You will include both your PLA skills-based resume as well as your traditional/professional resume in the portfolio.

• The Educational Narrative (a unique Narrative for each course you’re challenging), which is a document that does the following:
  • Examines your personal motivations and educational goals in the context of learning and how you will achieve them.
  • Examines and discusses past instances that led to learning.
    • This portion should address each course objective found on the course syllabus, and demonstrate that you have mastered the objectives to the same extent as students who have completed the course.
    • NOTE: You must write a separate, unique Narrative for each course you’re challenging. For example, if you are challenging three courses, you’ll have to write three distinct and different Educational Narratives, one for each course.

• Supporting Documentation
  • You will need to supply documentation to support the narrative.
  • Documentation is as individual as the learner, and it may include items such as sample work products, training certificates, workplace evaluations, letters of recommendation, and/or photographs.

Credit for Prior Learning at Boise State University

As a student in the BAS/ IPS Program at Boise State, you are part of a program and a university that highly values Prior Learning. Prior Learning is an important academic policy which many students use to get academic credit for their study outside of the college classroom. 

While we are focusing on portfolio credit in this textbook and accompanying course, there are many other forms of prior learning available for credit. The official Boise State policy on Prior Learning can be found at this link:

Office of the Registrar: Credit for Prior Learning

If you feel you may have other avenues for further credit, please speak with your advisor or instructor to inquire about how that might fit in with your Degree Plan.