How Californians Can Get College Credit for Their Life Experience

BestColleges

Margaret Attridge

January 14, 2025

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom released the final framework for the Master Plan for Career Education.

• The plan includes initiatives to make Credit for Prior Learning more accessible to veterans and military members and to create a statewide system for it.

• The state is investing $100 million to implement the master plan.

• Students don’t have to wait for the plan to take effect to start earning credit for their life experiences.

Many California schools offer students the option to earn college credit through prior life or work experience. However, requirements and restrictions vary between institutions and higher education systems.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently released the final framework of the “Master Plan for Career Education,” which includes expanding the state’s Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) offerings by creating a statewide system aimed at simplifying the process for students, especially veterans and military members.

“It’s not always about what they’ve learned in college, but it’s also what they’ve learned on the job … and equate that to community colleges, to our [University of California schools] and state universities,” Stewart Knox, secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, said at a press conference.

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