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The Process: From Evaluation to College Credit

Benefits of College Credit Recommendations
The Process: From Evaluation to College Credit
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How are college credit recommendations established?
How can you tell if your organization's courses are good candidates for successful evaluation?
How do college credit recommendations become actual college credit?
What's the first step?

How are college credit recommendations established?

National PONSI establishes credit recommendations through on-site evaluation of course documentation (please see our "Checklist for Materials to be Presented at On-site Evaluations" available from the Program office, for complete details). The evaluation is conducted by a member of National PONSI's staff and a team of three subject matter experts drawn primarily from the academic community. The evaluators are chosen by National PONSI in consultation with your organization. At the site visit, this team reviews instructional materials and assessments of course participants, and discusses curriculum and examination development with administrative and instructional staff from the sponsoring organization. After reviewing all documentation, the evaluation team reaches a consensus on whether each course is comparable to college-level instruction. Organization representatives are briefed on the team’s final determinations at the conclusion of the site visit. There is no waiting period for the results.

How can you tell if your organization's courses are good candidates for successful evaluation?

The staff at National PONSI will assist you in choosing which courses to submit for evaluation based on their potential to receive credit recommendations. Criteria include course length, availability of documentation, level of instruction, subject area, and means of assessing participants' performance (more details are contained in the "Evaluation Eligibility Checklist," available from the Program office). Because of National PONSI’s careful screening process, the vast majority of courses submitted do receive credit recommendations.

How do college credit recommendations become actual college credit?

One option is to use the Excelsior College Transcript Service. Your organization simply sends course records to Excelsior College, which lists the courses for college credit on an official transcript. Employees can request Excelsior College to issue transcripts to other colleges if they wish to transfer the credit or they can complete degrees at Excelsior College. This service not only facilitates the process of obtaining credit but also reduces the sponsoring organization's record keeping.

Alternatively, you can keep your own records, which can be used to document employees' successful completion of training to colleges where they are seeking credit. When credit is posted to the student's transcript at the college, the recommendation has actually become credit.

To ensure that your credit recommendations will be widely accepted by colleges and universities, we maintain regular contact with virtually every college and university in the United States. National PONSI maintains an annually updated list of contacts and phone numbers at close to 1,500 colleges that have reported willingness to consider awarding credit based on National PONSI's recommendations.

What's the first step?

Contact the National PONSI office to request a packet of information, containing application forms, fee schedules, a documentation checklist, and an Excelsior College Transcript Service brochure. The evaluation process is neither costly nor time consuming. However, if your organization wishes to submit more courses for evaluation than your staff resources currently permit, National PONSI also offers an optional Pre-evaluation Preparation (PreP) service to assist you in that process.

Updated December 22, 2008