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The Weber State University campus in Ogden is pictured Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner)

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

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The Shepherd Union Building on the Weber State University campus is pictured Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner)

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

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The Weber State University class of 2019 graduates on Friday, April 26, 2019, at the Dee Event Center on campus.

BEN DORGER, Standard-Examiner file photo

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OGDEN — Real-world experience is helping numerous Weber State University students to spend less on a college education.

Earlier this month, WSU sent out a press release touting its Prior Learning Assessment, “a process that allows students to earn college credit for knowledge gained outside of the classroom, Wildcats can reduce the cost of their education and earn a degree faster.”

According to the release, during the 2024-25 academic year, 3,400 WSU students took advantage of PLA to earn more than 27,280 credits, more than 1,300 more credits than the prior year — an estimated tuition savings of $7,224,538.

Lani Shepard, assistant registrar of Record Operations at WSU, described to the Standard-Examiner in an email how the program works.

“Prior Learning Assessment allows colleges to evaluate and grant academic credit for college-level knowledge and skills gained outside the traditional classroom,” she said. “At Weber State University, students can earn credit through standardized exams, WSU departmental exams, professional experience, POST training, and military service. To maintain high academic standards, faculty experts evaluate each submission to ensure the student’s prior experience aligns directly with the learning outcomes of our university courses.”

She said that acknowledging real-world experience with college credit isn’t necessarily new, but recent changes in the academic landscape have seen the practice expanding.

“Weber State has a long-standing commitment to recognizing prior experience,” she said. “We began offering credit by exam in the 1960s, military credit in 1970, and industry learning experiential credit in the mid-1990s. Thanks to recent initiatives from the Utah System of Higher Education, there is renewed statewide momentum around PLA. This enthusiasm has fueled exciting growth at WSU, expanding credit opportunities into programs like criminal justice, music, and dance.”

Shepard added that students must demonstrate a certain level of understanding from their previous experience.

“We offer credit pathways for a wide range of industry licenses and professional certifications, including those in radiologic sciences, computer Science, automotive service technology, first aid, basic EMT, and nursing,” she said. “What matters most is not just time spent on the job, but whether that experience demonstrates mastery of college-level course objectives. If a student can document learning that matches our curriculum, it can often be translated into academic credit. PLA is not course credit for the sake of experience. It is the evaluation of the learning gained through that experience.”

She said that, while the program is available throughout the university, one department has seen a lot of use of the PLA program.

“PLA is available across the university, giving students in a wide range of academic fields the opportunity to participate,” she said. “While options exist campus-wide, our Department of World Languages & Cultures currently awards the highest volume of PLA credits each year, helping many bilingual and multilingual students accelerate their degree progress.”

Shepard said both students and the school benefit immensely.

“For students, the most immediate advantages are saving both time and tuition money,” she said. “From the university’s perspective, the greatest benefit is momentum: Students who earn PLA credit feel validated in their past achievements and are significantly more likely to stay engaged, persist, and successfully complete their degrees.”

She said that the program is set to continue to evolve in the coming years.

“The future of PLA at Weber State is focused on expanding access and improving the student experience,” she said. “We hope to implement new management software to make applying for and tracking PLA credit seamless for students and faculty. Moving forward, we aim to offer more departmental exams or skills assessments and expand our evaluation database for military training documented on Joint Services Transcripts, creating even more streamlined pathways to graduation.”