Grant helps community colleges translate work experience into academic credits
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The Virginia Community College System has been awarded a $350,000 grant from Lumina Foundation to make it easier for individuals who have earned post-secondary workforce credentials to translate them into credit in traditional degree programs.
Lumina’s All Learning Counts initiative will support VCCS to ensure that knowledge, skills, and abilities gained outside of formal higher education—through work, military, and other experiences—can be recognized and applied toward programs leading to credentials of value, and ultimately, better jobs and careers.
The VCCS received one of nine grants awarded nationwide from a pool of 78 applicants. The grant will allow the VCCS to apply lessons learned from the current online credit for prior learning portal available for military members and veterans to expand this process and technology to individuals who hold or earn high-demand credentials.
A major outcome is to ensure a consistent process for awarding credit for prior learning across all Virginia community colleges. The grant will also help colleges reach historically underserved adult learners who may be eligible for credit for prior learning.
“The VCCS proudly awards credit for prior learning for our men and women in the military but we know there are many others who carry great technical experience but don’t have the credentials to show for it. Thanks to Lumina, we are well on our way to expanding credit for prior learning to community college students across the state,” said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges.
