Credit for Prior Learning
Options to earn undergraduate and graduate credit for what you know to help you complete your degree
GVSU recognizes that your learning extends beyond the classroom. Whether it's through work experience, military service, professional learning, technical training or knowledge you've learned through volunteer and service work, we value your diverse perspectives and want to help you earn credit for what you know. Explore all the options to earn credit below.
Transfer credit may be awarded for credits/hours earned at another college or university. If you attended other institutions in the past, you can submit all official transcripts to the Registrar's Office to be evaluated for potential transfer credit. Send transcripts to [email protected]. Visit our course equivalency guide online to see how your courses might transfer to GVSU.
Credit by exams and challenge exams are developed and administered by nationally recognized boards. Grand Valley reviews and accepts test results with sufficiently high scores for college credit.
- Challenge exams are university exams that allow you to demonstrate how your knowledge and learning fulfills the learning outcomes of a specific course.
- Challenge exams are developed and assessed by faculty in that department.
- Cost is variable, math and language tests are free. Engineering is $50-$100.
Undergraduate Portfolio Assessment
If you have work experience, professional licenses or certificates, have completed workplace training programs, or in other ways have learning that corresponds to college level learning, then you should consider building a portfolio to demonstrate that knowledge.
Cost is $150 for each portfolio you choose to have assessed.
Experiential credit may be awarded for non-college professional learning or licensure acquired in business, industry, government as well as military training.
At the graduate level, professional learning credit can be earned through the following methods:
- Challenge Exam: A graduate program may offer oral, practical, and/or written challenge exams approved by their department curriculum committees to assess students' mastery and application of graduate level knowledge and skills.
- Individualized Assessment: This type of assessment may include portfolio review, performance-based assessment, and demonstration of mastery and application of graduate level knowledge and skills.
- Cost is $250 for each assessment.
If you would like to talk with someone about what might be the best option for you to earn credit for your experiences, please reach out to the following people:
Undergraduate credit: Prior Learning Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Brian Lassiter, [email protected] - 616-331-7180
Graduate credit: Contact your Graduate Program Director for more information.