Earning Credit for What You Already Know

Thomas Edison State College does not award credit for life experience. Rather, we provide our students the opportunity to earn credit by demonstrating that they possess college-level knowledge, and we have several methods to help students do just that. These methods include:

• Testing:  This is a credit-by-exam program where students are taking a course’s final exam without taking the actual course. Students can earn credit through the College's testing program, TECEP®, or other common credit-by-exam programs, such as the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP).
  
  
• Prior Learning Assessment:  This program involves students working with a mentor, who is an expert in a particular subject and corresponding college course, to develop an electronic portfolio that documents a student's mastery of the subject and demonstrates that they possess the key learning objectives in the course.
  
  
• Licenses & Certifications:  Students may earn credit if they possess one of more than 60 licenses and certifications in a wide range of fields, from aviation and healthcare to law enforcement and business.  Licenses and/or certifications must by current and valid.
  
  
• Military Training:  Students with military experience may earn credit, depending on the military training documented in AARTS and SMAARTS transcripts, transcripts from the Community College of the Air Force or, for servicemembers who left the military before 1986, a DD-214 form. 
  
  
• Professional Training:  Students may earn credit for professional training programs they have completed that have been evaluated by the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service, or by the College. 
  

At Thomas Edison State College, what matters is that you possess that college-level knowledge – not how you acquired it.

Learn more about earning credit at Thomas Edison State College