What is Prior Learning Assessment?
Our office exists to aid ODU students in translating their professional work knowledge into academic credit. Through the use of various mechanisms, we are able to offer students the opportunity to have their prior learning assessed and applied for academic credit. This path may save the students both time and money as they work toward their degree.
Your information will be passed to academic divisions and we can evaluate whether your prior training, an exam or a portfolio will best demonstrate your knowledge and whether that knowledge is applicable toward a particular course or courses in your degree program. Students may "challenge" a course by demonstrating their knowledge of that course, and may receive credit. PLA does not evaluate transcripts, nor provide credit based off transcript evaluation.
Student fees for assessment vary according to the type of assessment. For example:
- Training fees are billed to students at 20% of tuition costs
- Exams are billed to students at 30% of tuition costs
- Evaluation of a portfolio is billed to students at 50% of tuition costs
It is important to note that students must pay this fee and may not use financial aid or VA funds. It is also important to note that every student does not succeed in challenging their course for credit, however, the fee for the challenge will still be assessed, just as a student must pay for a course, even if they are not successful in passing it.
If a CLEP or DSST exam exists for a challenged course, the student must take the CLEP/DSST exam. CLEP/DSST exams are administered through the Credentialing Center. No faculty approval, or approval of the PLA office is needed to take a CLEP or DSST test. For more information on CLEP and DSST scores and course equivalency, click here. Questions about CLEP/DSST scores should be directed to the Office of Admissions.
How Prior Learning Works:
Before beginning, there are a few important things you should know about Prior Learning:
- Prior Learning is not a transcript evaluation service. All competencies must be proven through an assessment method- exam, portfolio, or training evaluation.
- It is at the discretion of the faculty whether they will allow you to challenge and also what assessment method they will use.
- All challenges have a fee associated with them. This fee is an out of pocket expense, no financial aid may be used.
- Challenging a class does not mean you automatically get credit. If you fail, you do not receive credit, cannot challenge the course again, and will not receive a refund.
- You cannot challenge a course you previously took or attempted.
- If a CLEP or DSST exam exists for a specific course, you must use that method. Classes which are evaluated by CLEP/DSST can be found by clicking here.
- If you are on Academic Warning or Academic Suspension, you cannot challenge a course.
- All PLA credit appears as an XP on your transcript (if you are successful with your challenge) but does not count towards your GPA, writing requirement, institutional credit, and will not transfer with you if you leave ODU.
Please move to Step 1 - How to Challenge
The first step in challenging is to figure out what course(s) you would like to attempt via PLA. As noted in Step 0, the desire to challenge a course does not mean you will be able to. It is at the discretion of the faculty/department and their decision is final.
It's best to review your DegreeWorks and see what courses you need to take. After that, do some self reflection to see if any of the courses match your professional experience. If so, that may be one you would like to challenge.
Note that some departments/colleges have specific challenge rules. The most common are listed below:
- College of Business- No internships/independent study course may be challenged.
- Human Services- Only HMSV 468 may be challenged. Students hoping to challenge must have 5 years of full time experience within the field and should submit their resume/cover letter to PLA the semester BEFORE they hope to graduate. If approved, the portfolio would be put together your last semester.
- Civil Engineering Technology- Students must have at least 15 institutional credits and a major specific GPA of at least a 2.75 to be eligible to challenge. A maximum of 3 courses may be challenged through PLA.
Please move to Step 2 - Challenge Approval
To seek challenge approval, please submit a cover letter explaining how your professional qualifications match the course you're hoping to challenge. A copy of your resume should also be included, and you should e-mail both documents to priorlearning@odu.edu
Note: If you're trying to challenge multiple courses, a separate cover letter for each course is needed.
WARNING: Don't forget, you CANNOT challenge a course if a CLEP/DSST exam exists, you already attempted the course, or if it's a special case as outlined in "1. How to Challenge". If unsure about whether a class can be challenged, please contact the PLA office before writing your cover letter(s).
Please move to Step 3- Approved/Disapproved Challenges
After receiving your cover letter(s) and resume, Prior Learning will go to the appropriate department and advocate that you be allowed to challenge. If approved, the faculty will tell us what assessment method they will use, and that information will be conveyed to you. You would then fill out our intake form, we will bill your account, and you would complete you challenge. If disapproved, the process is over and you would then go take the class.
Please move to Step 4- End of Process
After completing your challenge, the faculty will inform us whether you have passed. If you have, Prior Learning will notify you, and you'll receive an XP on your transcript. As previously mentioned, this doesn't count towards your GPA, institutional credit, writing requirement, and will not transfer out of ODU. If you fail, it will not appear any place, but you do not receive a refund and you cannot challenge the course again.