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Acceptance of College Credit Recommendations by Academic Institutions

The National Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction has employed a number of methods on an ongoing basis to monitor the use of the credit recommendations it establishes and gauge its own general efficacy. Among these efforts, four special initiatives have been conducted to assess the academic community's response to the Program's recommendations:

1976 Study of New York State Colleges and Universities
1988 National Survey on College and University Practices in Awarding Credit for Noncollegiate Learning
1993 National Follow-up Survey
1999 National Follow-up Survey

In the fall of 1976, the Program began a one-year study, under a contract with the National Institute of Education, to determine if it was beginning to achieve its objectives. The study sought to answer questions about practices relating to the Program in New York State during the 1975-76 academic year. The records of 65 responding institutions indicated that nearly 1,100 students applied for credit for evaluated courses and programs during the 1975-76 academic year, and that 89 percent of them received either credit or course exemptions. The 469 responding students reported that they received credit for 82 percent of the courses and programs that they submitted to colleges during the 1975-76 academic year.

In 1988, a national survey was conducted. Its primary purpose was to assess the academic community's familiarity with National PONSI and willingness to award credit based on the Program's credit recommendations. Survey items were also included to determine how the use of National PONSI's credit recommendations by academic institutions compared with other measurements of noncollegiate learning. The survey elicited 1,910 responses from 3,235 institutions of higher learning located in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam. Overall institutional response rate was 59.04%. The information gathered was extremely helpful in directing program publications more effectively and providing guidance to noncollegiate organizations on where their credit recommendations might most readily be applied to degree programs. Over half (51.6%) of those responding to the 1988 survey were familiar with National PONSI, and 44.4% indicated willingness to award credit based on the recommendations established by National PONSI. The data suggest that familiarity and actual requests for credit played a role in an institution's willingness to state that it would use National PONSI's recommendations as a basis for evaluating requests for credit. For example, while 44.4% of all survey respondents said their institution awards credit based on the recommendations established by National PONSI, if the field is restricted to those respondents who indicated they were familiar with National PONSI prior to receiving the survey, the percentage of those who award credit increases to 60.2%. If the sample is further narrowed to the group who reported they have actually been requested to award credit based on a National PONSI credit recommendation, 86% said they awarded credit or a course exemption toward a degree program at their institution.

In comparing the use of the Program's credit recommendations by survey respondents with other measurements of nontraditional learning, it becomes apparent that granting credit for nontraditional learning is the rule rather than the exception. Military courses and courses sponsored by noncollegiate organizations which have been recommended for credit by the American Council on Education were applied toward degrees by 72.5% and 44.2% respectively of the institutions responding. Nearly half (48.8%) of the respondents reported their institution conducts individualized assessment of prior learning.

In 1993, a five-year follow-up survey was conducted with somewhat broader goals. Consistent with the 1988 effort, the follow-up survey's primary purpose was to assess trends in the academic recognition of National PONSI's credit recommendations and other widely used measurements of noncollegiate learning. In addition, the 1993 survey attempted to assess the extent to which colleges are reaching out to nontraditional students and cooperating with noncollegiate organizations.

Institutions in every state, as well as Puerto Rico and Guam, returned a total of 1,023 surveys for a 31.4% institutional response rate. Comparison of the 1993 data with the 1988 data reveals upward trends in both familiarity with National PONSI and acceptance of the credit recommendations: 70.7% were familiar (a 37% increase over 1988), and 53% would award credit based on the credit recommendations (a 19.4% increase). Appendix C of the print editions of the Directory and Supplement contains a list of colleges that includes this latter group, as well as additional cooperating institutions identified through other outreach efforts. For each college on the list, the name and telephone number of an individual to contact regarding use of the credit recommendations is also given. This information is updated annually for the list of Cooperating Colleges on this Website. Once again, familiarity with the Program was linked to the institutions' willingness to say they would consider awarding credit, with 66.6% of those who were familiar with National PONSI indicating they would use the credit recommendations as a basis for determining credit awards. Other measurements of noncollegiate learning also enjoyed increases in acceptance. Military courses and courses sponsored by noncollegiate organizations which have been recommended for credit by the American Council on Education are applied toward degrees by 78.5% (8.3% increase) and 52.5% (18.8% increase) respectively of the institutions responding. More than half of the respondents (52.2%; a 7% increase) now report that their institutions conduct individualized assessment of prior learning.

In 1999 a third survey was conducted to follow up on the major areas of inquiry covered in 1993 and to assess the acceptability of moving to electronic distribution of program publications. Responses were received from 432 degree-granting institutions, representing a 14% institutional return rate on 3,021 institutions surveyed. The lower institutional response rate on this survey as compared to earlier surveys is interpreted as evidence of the information overload created by new developments in communication technologies, which have the cumulative effect of requiring individuals to become more selective about the messages they actively respond to.

The data indicate that the trend in recognizing various measurements of noncollegiate learning continues upward, with the largest increase in recognition for National PONSI itself: 71% of respondents indicated that they recognized National PONSI's credit recommendations (compared with 53% of respondents to 1993 survey; a 34% increase); 84% recognized ACE Military (compared with 78.5% in 1993; a 7% increase); 64% recognized recommendations from the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service (compared with 52.5% in 1993; a 22% increase); 91% recognized proficiency exams (no comparative data are available from 1993); and 54% engage in individualized assessment (compared with 52.2% in 1993; a 3% increase).

Once again, simply becoming aware of the existence of the college credit recommendations established by National PONSI seems to be the key in most institutions' decision to identify themselves as cooperating colleges (i.e., colleges that are willing to consider awarding credit based on the recommendations). Among responding institutions, only 15% of those who indicated they were familiar with National PONSI did not indicate willingness to consider awarding credit based on the program's recommendations. The data suggest that once a college is familiar with National PONSI, 85% decide to recognize the credit recommendations as a valid resource in prior learning assessment. This interpretation is further supported by the fact that the most common reason given for a decision not to use the credit recommendations was lack of information about National PONSI and its evaluation procedures.

The powerful positive effect of familiarity with National PONSI and its evaluation procedures in convincing institutions to use the Program's credit recommendations had been suggested by the results of the 1993 survey, which showed that a little over 66% of respondents who were familiar with National PONSI would use the credit recommendations, as compared with the 53% recognition rate for all respondents. Consequently, in the intervening years, the Program allocated significant resources to college outreach, with the outcome that 76% of the respondents to the 1999 survey now report familiarity with National PONSI, a 7% increase over the 1993 survey results.

Even more powerful than information alone as an incentive to recognize the credit recommendations were actual requests for credit. Among institutions who indicated that they had actually been requested to consider awarding credit, 91% also indicated general willingness to consider awarding credit based on National PONSI's recommendations.

Once an institution has made the decision to use the credit recommendations as a resource in prior learning assessment, the data indicate that colleges find the recommendations a very useful tool and suggest that college credit recommendations are now often regarded in the same light as transfer credit from other degree granting institutions. Of the institutions who had been requested to award credit based on the recommendations (which included 51% of all respondents), 81% said that credit was always or sometimes awarded. The most common reasons given for not awarding credit were that the course recommended for credit would duplicate a course the student had already received credit for or that there was no fit within the requestor's degree program requirements, which are also among the most frequent reasons that the transfer of credit between colleges is denied. On the positive side, though, both reasons suggest that the course exhibits in National PONSI's Directory, College Credit Recommendations, provide ample information on which to base such decisions. Of the institutions that provided information on their policies with respect to fees for awarding credit for noncollegiate learning, 66% charged no fee, 22% charged an assessment fee only, 8% charged partial tuition, and only 4% charged full tuition.

The 1999 survey also sought to document two other aspects of the trend toward a more widespread embrace of nontraditional students (in addition, that is, to trends in awarding credit for noncollegiate learning): collaboration with noncollegiate organizations and special services for nontraditional students. 38% of respondents indicated that they were engaged in some form of collaborative effort with noncollegiate organizations. The most common forms of collaboration were (in descending order of frequency indicated) articulation agreements, regular college courses offered at client organization sites, contract courses designed for client organizations, and joint degrees. A much larger number of respondents (84%) indicated that they offered services for nontraditional students. The services most frequently offered were (in descending order of frequency) evening and/or weekend degree programs, distance learning courses (including those offered over the Internet), schools or departments designed especially for nontraditional students, degree programs through distance learning, and (much less frequently) non-residential assessment-based degree programs. Not surprisingly, the institutions who offered services for nontraditional students were more likely to also recognize National PONSI's credit recommendations. Conversely, only 7% of institutions who recognized National PONSI's credit recommendations had no services for nontraditional students.

The response to the most recent survey of colleges reaffirms the importance of outreach efforts for National PONSI in realizing its twofold mission of serving colleges by providing reliable assessments of noncollegiate courses and examination programs, and assisting adult students in obtaining academic recognition for credit worthy learning experiences. As a result of various outreach efforts conducted by the Program, the number of cooperating colleges currently stands at 1,472, an increase of 73% in the 12 years since National PONSI undertook its first national assessment of the acceptance of its credit recommendations by the academic community.

National PONSI encourages colleges to refer noncollegiate organizations to the Program for evaluation if they are requested to award credit for previously unevaluated formalized learning experiences sponsored by these organizations. By making such referrals, colleges can conserve their own evaluation resources for other types of prior learning assessment.

Updated November 6, 2005