ABSTRACT
To attract transfer students and help them reach their goals, colleges and universities must acknowledge and address this extraordinary student mobility within the context of degree completion. One currently underutilized transfer strategy is prior learning assessment (PLA). PLA evaluates what the student has learned, not where the student has learned it or from whom. Advocates of credit through PLA emphasize that students can demonstrate mastery of the learning outcomes for specific courses or groups of courses. A strong commitment to transfer articulation embraces the principle that learners should not be required to repeat competencies already achieved. While an institution can apply PLA decisions toward degrees and credentials, when the student transfers credit earned through PLA, it may be denied at the receiving institution based on the origin of the credit. Transfer access should be for all, regardless of where students begin the path toward completion or how they attained college-level learning.
