Credit for Prior Learning

You’ve already earned some college credits or an associate’s degree and have significant work experiences. Now you’ve decided to take the important step of finishing your bachelor’s degree. As an adult with family and work obligations, you need an efficient path to complete your degree that incorporates all of your prior learning in a way that works in your life.

We work with adult learners to establish credit for prior learning, including maximizing the number of credits you can transfer from other colleges and evaluating prior learning for credit. The more credits you receive, the more efficiently you can complete your degree.

You won’t have to figure all this out on your own. Once you enroll, you’ll develop a preliminary degree plan with your academic advisor. All credit options will be discussed with your advisor during the degree-planning process.

At Lesley, we provide 4 ways for you to earn credits toward your 120-credit degree:

Transfer College Credit
You can apply up to 90 credits earned from other schools to your Lesley degree. Credits are eligible for transfer if they meet the following criteria:

Must be from an accredited institution recognized by Lesley University.

Must have received a grade C- or better. (Note: If you have an Associate’s degree conferred, then the required grade is D- or better).

An official transcript is required to process the credit transfer. In some cases, you may be asked to provide a course description to support the official transcript.
Life Experience Credit Through the Prior Learning Assessment Process

Complete our 3-credit Prior Learning Assessment course and you may apply for a maximum of 45 credits for learning experiences that took place outside of the classroom. This could include work experience, training programs, or volunteer service.

The Prior Learning Assessment course helps you identify and document what you’ve already learned. With the help of our faculty, you’ll develop a portfolio to show how your knowledge aligns with college-level work.
Standardized Examinations
You may decide to take a standardized exam that tests college-level knowledge. Depending on your score, the test may show that you’ve met particular Lesley course requirements. We accept exam scores from the following nationally recognized exam programs:

College Level Examination Program

Excelsior College Examinations

Thomas Edison College Examination

DANTES Subject Standardized Test

Advanced Placement Program

Evaluated Non-College Sponsored Learning
Evaluated Non-College Sponsored Learning

You may have gained college-level learning from non-college professional development programs, training offered by an employer, professional associations, community-based organizations, or military experience.

Your non-college learning might have been evaluated for college credit by the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service. If so, we can accept the recommended credits into your degree plan.

If you have military training, the American Council on Education’s Military Guide recommends credits for courses and occupations offered by all branches of the military. These can also be accepted into your degree plan.

Here’s How it Works

During your initial advising appointment, your advisor will provide you with a transfer credit evaluation. To determine which credits may transfer, every effort is made to match courses with their Lesley degree equivalents. Only college-level courses with grades of C- or better (D- or better if you have an Associates Degree conferred) are eligible for transfer credit. Courses taken for a pass/fail grade will be eligible for transfer credit only if the transcript indicates that the pass signifies at least a C- (or D- if you have an Associates Degree conferred).

The bottom line: We accept up to 90 credits in total from all sources toward a BA or BS (BFA requirements vary). Of those 90 credits, no more than 45 credits can come from Prior Learning Assessment.