Exploring Credit for Prior Learning and Veteran Students (Spring 2025)

This session will provide faculty, staff, and administrators with the tools and knowledge to effectively evaluate and award academic credit for military courses and occupations, utilizing the American Council on Education (ACE) credit recommendations. Participants will explore ACE’s historical role in recognizing military learning and examine how its recommendations have evolved to address the changing needs of military-connected students and higher education institutions.

The session will cover the process of aligning military courses and occupations with academic credit, strategies for developing transparent and consistent credit equivalencies. A brief overview of the Joint Services Transcript (JST) will be provided, emphasizing its value as a resource for documenting veterans’ and service members’ professional military education, training, and occupational experiences.

Beyond utilizing ACE recommendations, the session will discuss how military-connected students can benefit from an institution’s internal Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) process. This ensures a more comprehensive recognition of the knowledge and skills gained through experiences not documented on the JST, supporting their academic and professional success.

Presenter(s):

• Mary Beth Lakin – Executive Director, Credit for Prior Learning Assessment Network (C-PLAN), Minnesota State Academic and Student Affairs, Metro State University.
• Gina Sobania – Director of Military, Veteran, and Adult Learner Services, Minnesota State Academic and Student Affairs

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

• Explain the historical development of the American Council on Education (ACE) credit recommendations and their significance in recognizing military learning.
• Identify the key steps involved in aligning military courses and occupations with academic credit using ACE credit recommendations.
• Interpret the sections of the Joint Services Transcript (JST) to document veterans’ and service members’ professional military education, training, and occupational experiences.
• Discuss and apply strategies for creating consistent, transparent, and equitable policies for awarding academic credit to military-connected students.
• Explore institutional Credit for Prior Learning processes to recognize and award credit for skills and knowledge not documented on the JST.
• Advocate for the recognition of military experiences at colleges and universities to enhance academic and professional outcomes for military connected students.

RSVP Required

Use the RSVP tool below to register. In addition to Minnesota State faculty and staff, Concurrent Enrollment instructors are also welcome to join.

After registering, a calendar invite with details on how to join will be sent to you, please add this event to your calendar.

Accommodations

The NED is committed to providing universal access to all of our events, we’d like to discover how we can make the event more inclusive so you can fully participate!
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Machine generated captions are available in real-time for all Zoom events, however human generated CART (live caption) service and ASL interpretation can be requested with advanced notice (2 weeks) to make the event more accessible.
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Please, let us know of any disability-related accommodations that will facilitate your full participation.
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Questions?

Contact the Network for Educational Development.