Credit by Exam is a mechanism employed in the California community colleges as a means of granting credit for student learning outside of the traditional classroom. In some instances, credit by exam is the means used to award college credit for structured learning experiences in a secondary educational setting, while in other instances knowledge…

Colleges have long had mechanisms for awarding students credit for prior learning, from evaluating transcripts to establishing standards for the units and course credit to be associated with designated scores on nationally and internationally recognized curricula and exams. While the processes for awarding credit via these traditional mechanisms…