Issues relating to identifying pathways whereby pharmacy practioners can obtain additional training and experience leading to an advanced professional degree or certificate are identified. A scheme for assessing the prior learning of external degree or certificate candidates is suggested. (MLW)

Discussion of the development of distance education programs in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Great Britain focuses primarily on six programs in the United States. External degree programs are discussed, standard examinations that assess prior learning are described, and credit policies for extra-institutional learning are examined.…

Few educators understand the exact nature and scope of alternative graduate programs or the variety of issues that confront their development and viability. Alternative graduate education is defined and the issues and critical concepts of nontraditional graduate study are identified. (Author/MLW)

Schools of Pharmacy, it is suggested, should be responsive to practitioner needs by providing a mechanism through which pharmacists may earn a PharmD degree with minimal disruption. The degree should be part-time, off-campus, and provide a means to grant partial credit for prior knowledge and experience. (Author/MLW)

Although undergraduates often earn academic credit for prior learning, graduate students are rarely afforded that opportunity, with Central Michigan University and the University of Northern Colorado as exceptions. Both the American Council on Education and the Council for the Advancement of Experiential Learning support experiential learning in…

The Regents External Degrees program to earn a degree without attending college, and the College Proficiency Examinations to validate knowledge gained outside of the formal college classroom are described. The programs are administered by the University of the State of New York, which has no campus or courses, but accepts credits from accredited…

In 1998, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools established a fifteen-member Task Force to study the practices and procedures employed in adult degree completion programs. An adult degree completion program is identified as one that is designed especially to meet the needs of the working adult who, having acquired sixty or more…

The Bachelor of Science (nursing) degree offered by the New York External Degree Program of the University of the State of New York is described. The degree program is designed to enable individuals to earn a college degree by using college courses, proficiency examinations, and/or special assessment. It provides a program of assessment rather…

Through a combination of prior coursework, contract learning, credit for experience, standardized tests, and other methods of evaluating prior learning, the Empire State College (New York) allows adults to complete undergraduate degree requirements. The nonresidential institution serves students throughout the state, with faculty in over 40…