Work experience may count as credits toward your college degree.
The essential principle behind using work experience as college credit is that you learned key information or mastered certain skills that are the functional equivalents of college courses. For example, if you worked for several years as a hotel manager, you would have covered material that would be treated in business management and administration. You can demonstrate this by studying the college catalog and putting together a portfolio that shows the connections between your work experience and college learning objectives.
Instructions
1. Read the college catalog, which is usually available online at the college website (be sure to open the correct catalog for your degree, for example the undergraduate catalog for Associate's and Bachelor's degrees). Pay special attention to the procedures listed for applying for work experience credit, and read the course descriptions carefully, noting wherever the courses treat things you dealt with in your work life.
2. Assemble a detailed portfolio that represents your work history. Be sure to list dates of employment, and whether these positions were full- or part-time, supervisory, and so on. List also the principal activities of those jobs, highlighting those activities that are covered in the courses of the college catalog. If you received short-term specialized training for your employment, include certificates of completion.
3. Contact former supervisors for letters of support. Provide them with information on your academic goals, and ask them to write letters that substantiate your claims to have covered coursework material in your everyday activity.
4. Meet with an academic advisor at the college and submit the portfolio as part of the application for work experience credit.
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