Credit for Prior Learning, Credit by Testing
Credit by Challenge Examination or Portfolio to Show Prior Learning
A challenge exam is a comprehensive style examination in which students demonstrate their content knowledge in a specific course.
A portfolio is a compilation of materials, for example, projects students completed at work, through which students demonstrate their content knowledge in a specific course. Portfolio requirements and preparation instructions are explained during the CAR199 Portfolio Development course. If you have more than one year of professional work experience and want to learn more about portfolios and prior learning assessments (PLAs), visit the GCU PLA website. Credits earned by taking Georgian Court-graded challenge examinations and portfolios are Georgian Court credits, but none of these credits can be counted toward the 30 Georgian Court credits required for graduation.
A matriculating student cannot take a challenge examination or submit a portfolio until at least 12 credits of "regular" Georgian Court coursework has been earned. Students cannot attempt to earn challenge examination or portfolio prior learning credits during their semester of graduation.
The department chair or credit for prior learning (CPL) coordinator and school dean will determine if a challenge exam or portfolio assessment option can be taken for a particular course. Challenge examinations and portfolio assessments, in other words, may be offered upon the request of a student, if the chair of the department offering the course (for challenge exams), CPL coordinator (for portfolio assessments), and the dean of the school offering the course approve it.
A matriculating student may earn up to 30 credits from a combination of Georgian Court challenge examinations and portfolio assessment. These credits are in addition to the number that students may earn by taking the CLEP, DSST, etc. exams, which are not Georgian Court credit.
Credit by Testing
Georgian Court accepts a total of 30 credits from all testing sources combined. However, with the exception of challenge examinations, these are considered equivalent to transfer credit and are in addition to the 30 credits that must be earned at Georgian Court. All Georgian Court students must obtain written approval from the major advisor and the registrar prior to taking any of these examinations. Transfer Credit forms are available on the Office of the Registrar’s web page at https://georgian.edu/academics/registrar/. Credit will be given only if credit has not already been awarded or earned for the related course content. Credit earned by testing is included in the limit of 90 transfer credits total, but is not counted as being part of the limit of 75 credits that can be transferred from two-year institutions (in other words, a student who has transferred 75 credits from a two-year institution can earn up to 15 additional transfer credits through testing).
College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) [Table II-D]
A student who achieves a successful score on any approved general area examination or on any subject examinations may be able to receive college credit. Georgian Court accepts a total of 30 CLEP credits. To award credit, an official score report must be sent to the Office of the Registrar. CLEP credit is granted only if the related course content has not been previously completed. In order for the CLEP science examination to be accepted for the laboratory science general education requirement, the examination must be taken prior to acceptance to Georgian Court. The CLEP science examinations do not fulfill this requirement if taken after acceptance to Georgian Court.
Other Credit by Testing Options [Table II-E]
Students may consider other means of college credit such as DSST (formerly DANTES), Thomas Edison State University Credit-by-Examination Program examinations, ACE College Credit Recommendations Service, Brigham Young University (BYU) Foreign Language Testing Achievement Services (FLATS) exams, NYU Language Proficiency exams (12-point exam), and Columbia University Language Resource Center. Students who need a proctor for one of the language exams should consult with the Director of Advising or the Director of Global Education. For languages, the maximum number of credits that can be earned from all testing sources is 6 credits per language, unless the language is being used to satisfy requirements in a language major or the Interdisciplinary Studies major and the program director has approved the use of more credits. To receive credit from any credit by testing option, students must earn a minimum of a C or its equivalent (or, for an exam graded only pass/fail, students must earn a passing grade). Students who wish to take a challenge examination for a specific course should contact the department chair for consideration (see Credit by Challenge Examination or Portfolio to Show Prior Learning).