Credit For Prior Learning

Ways to earn college credit for what you have learned

Experience is a great teacher – sometimes it can give you a head start on a degree or certificate. If you have skills learned through school, training, or work experience, we will work with you to verify your prior experience. 

Once your skills are documented and deemed equivalent to college-level coursework, we will grant credit to you if it's appropriate to your WCC program of study.

 How do we verify your equivalency credit? We use following methods:

To start the process, you must first earn one or more credit hours at WCC before we can post any equivalency credit to your transcript. 

Important things to know about your equivalency credit:

• It will not apply toward satisfying the minimum WCC credits required for graduation.
• It cannot be used to count as a class that you are registered for in any given semester.
• It is not figured into your grade point average.
• In most cases, it will not transfer to other colleges or universities. Other institutions will want to evaluate the transcripts from all colleges previously attended when awarding transfer credit.

Credit for Prior Learning...

can save you thousands of dollars in tuition expenses and allows you to earn your degree faster.

Credit by exam

If you demonstrate proficiency in a course, you may, upon recommendation of a full-time instructor and the approval of the department chair, take a course examination for credit. This option is not available for all courses; it is mainly used in the technical/occupational areas. Check with your department to see if a test is available. To qualify, you must be accepted to WCC as a credit student and complete a Credit-By-Examination application form.

Important things to know about credit by examination:

• The cost of the exam is based on the number of credit hours in the course.
• A maximum of 30 credits earned by exam may be applied toward your degree.
• You are responsible for arranging to complete the exam.
• You are allowed to attempt credit by examination only once per course. If you pass the exam, WCC posts the credit with no grade to your WCC transcript.
• This credit generally does not transfer to other institutions.

Portfolio evaluation

Students with work or other experience may be able to earn college credit by submitting a portfolio documenting their experience. Learn more about the Portfolio Evaluation.

Advanced Placement testing

1. College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exams
   You may receive credit if you have achieved a three or above (four or above for Economics) on one of your AP exams offered through your high school. You may be granted credit for a particular course or the credit may apply toward an elective. For more information about AP course equivalencies email [email protected].
2.  International Baccalaureate High Level  exams
   Students who participated in an International Baccalaureate (IB) program may receive credit for completion of the High Level exam(s), depending on the subject area and exam score.  You may be granted credit for a particular course or the credit may apply toward an elective.  For more information about IB course equivalencies email [email protected]. Please request that your official IB test scores be sent by the testing agency directly to Washtenaw Community College.
3. College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
   
   You may receive credit for the successful completion of each of the 5 general examinations of CLEP:
   • College Composition*
   • Mathematics
   • Humanities
   • Natural Sciences
   • Social Sciences and History
   
   

   *Students who achieve the minimum score on the College Composition General Examination will be granted English elective credit.

   Minimum scores for awarding credit are based on American Council on Education (ACE) recommended credit-granting scores.

   If you have earned 6 or more credits in any one of the general exam subject areas, you are not eligible to receive credit for the general exam in that area. Subject exams are for these general areas:

   • Composition
   • Literature
   • Foreign languages
   • History
   • Social sciences
   • Science
   • Mathematics
   • Business

   In general, a maximum of three semester credits may be granted for each college-approved subject examination for scores which meet ACE-recommended credit-granting scores. Some general and subject exams also require you to successfully complete an essay exam or laboratory demonstration.

   Schedule your CLEP test.

4. DSST

   The DSST (formerly DANTES Subject Standardized Tests) provides colleges a way to measure your knowledge in commonly taught college courses and award credit based on your scores. You can choose from a variety of tests in the areas of:

   • Social science
   • Business
   • Mathematics
   • Technology
   • Humanities
   • Physical science

   Schedule your DSST test.

Military training

For an evaluation of service school training, submit your military transcript and DD-214 member 4 copy (military discharge papers) unless you are still on active military duty. The documents must show the exact title of the course, location of the course, and length of the course in weeks. Credit is granted for military training as recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE) if it applies to your program of study at WCC. Other courses may be accepted as elective credit based on your program of study at WCC. For more information or assistance, visit the Wadhams Veterans Center.

To have your military experience evaluated for college credit, request a copy of your Joint Service Transcript (JST).

Articulation through CTE classes

If you have gained entry-level occupational skills through your high school career and technical education (CTE) classes and would like to receive college credit for equivalent courses, you must:

• Have taken an approved career or technical course
• Have a recommendation from your instructor
• Provide WCC with your transcript for evaluation by the college instructor
• Apply for the credit within two years of your high school graduation

Learn how to get credit for CTE classes.

Union apprenticeships

Your apprenticeship experience converts to college credits at WCC. Those credits put you a third of the way—or even more—toward your associate degree in Construction Supervision, Industrial Training, or Journeyperson General Studies.

Industry Certifications

Credit can be granted for active industry certifications.