8M+
Californian residents have filed for unemployment since March.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
51%
of Californians without a degree who could benefit from credit for prior learning are people of color.
Source: California Competes
Recent Events
Californians Deserve Credit Town Hall
September 29, 2020
12:00PM-1:30PM PDT
The first of many conversations to engage educators, policymakers, and community organizations in ensuring more Californians receive the credit they deserve.
Watch RecordingThe How
The way we measure learning is outdated. We give credit through a centuries-old approach that relies on classroom time and credit hours—privileging students who can afford to navigate more traditional pathways while reinforcing inequitable barriers for those not well served by a time-based approach. Here’s how two new approaches—if done with a focus on equity and quality—can help us build systems that recognize the most important educational outcome: learning.
Credit For Prior Learning
When an experienced student chooses to pursue a degree, credential, or certificate they shouldn’t have to start from scratch. Their relevant prior learning—no matter where it happened—should be validated and given credit. This can happen in numerous ways, from improving credit transfer to creating rigorous means of assessing what they already know. Credit for Prior Learning saves students valuable time and money by accelerating their path to a degree, credential, or certificate.
Learn MoreCompetency-Based Education
This approach enables students to progress in their education based on demonstrations of their knowledge and skills instead of the amount of time they spend in a course.
Learn More-
1. CPL
Credit For Prior Learning
When an experienced student chooses to pursue a degree, credential, or certificate they shouldn’t have to start from scratch. Their relevant prior learning—no matter where it happened—should be validated and given credit. This can happen in numerous ways, from improving credit transfer to creating rigorous means of assessing what they already know. Credit for Prior Learning saves students valuable time and money by accelerating their path to a degree, credential, or certificate.
Learn More -
2. CBE
Competency-Based Education
This approach enables students to progress in their education based on demonstrations of their knowledge and skills instead of the amount of time they spend in a course.
Learn More
Resources
Recognizing All Learning to Help California Achieve Educational and Racial Equity
The Education Trust-West
This report examines how Competency-based learning can help California close racial and equity gaps by recognizing the hard-earned knowledge gained on the job or in people's everyday lives.
Read MoreCredit for Prior Learning: Leveraging Past Learning to Close Present-Day Equity Gaps
California Competes
This brief outlines how and why credit for prior learning (CPL) deserves a more prominent role among college and university programs offered for California adults.
Read MoreCompetency-Based Education: A Strategy for Skills Upgrading in California
California EDGE Coalition
This policy brief examines the ways in which other states are now successfully employing competency-based approaches to teaching and learning.
Read MoreSide by Side: Comparing Credit for Prior Learning and Competency-Based Education
California Competes
This publication compares the CPL and CBE models and underscores how they both differ from traditional seat-time based instruction.
Read MoreMake It Count: Recognizing Prior Learning for Workforce Development
Association of Community College Trustees
This report examines the practice of awarding credit for prior learning as part of community colleges’ workforce development strategies.
Read MoreAbout California Deserves Credit
Learn more about the partners and the goals behind the California Deserves Credit campaign.
Read More