Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) is credit awarded for validated college-level skills and knowledge gained outside a college classroom—it’s a strategy to grant students credit for what they already know and can demonstrate. Across the nation, individual institutions and systems of higher education are implementing comprehensive CPL practices to help working adults reskill and achieve quality credentials that increase their economic mobility. 

Check out CPL Materials and Resources


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

On September 16, 2019, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges approved a revision to Title 5, Section 55050 that redesigns how students at California Community Colleges receive credit for prior learning. The new regulation aims to make the process more consistent and equitable for students who come to community colleges with college-level skills and knowledge acquired in a variety of non-classroom settings. 
Research suggests that CPL benefits students and colleges by increasing completion and closing achievement gaps. In California, this means CPL can help the system achieve the goals outlined in the Vision for Success and increase college funding through improving measures on the Student-Centered Funding Formula metrics.