What is a Learning Evaluations Review?
The American Council on Education’s Learning Evaluations (formerly CREDIT®) Review is a thorough process during which a team of faculty evaluators from relevant academic disciplines review courses or exams, and if appropriate, make college credit recommendations that may be eligible for transfer into degree programs. Actual credit awarded is solely at the discretion of the college or university.
What are the benefits of a Learning Evaluations Review?
ACE Learning Evaluations Reviews bridge the gap between extra-institutional learning and college degree programs. Adult learners may be able to align their learning from professional education and training to college credit, which facilitates access to degree programs. Organizations and employers increase levels of employee satisfaction, retention and education.
Through Credly's Acclaim platform, adult learners who have successfully completed courses or exams with valid Learning Evaluations recommendations can request official transcripts.
Why should our organization seek Learning Evaluations recommendations?
The ACE Learning Evaluations recommendation gives your training recognition and distinction. Learning Evaluations recommended courses have endured a rigorous, judicious, and reliable third-party evaluation process. Every aspect of a Learning Evaluations recommended course, from the facilities to the teaching staff has been reviewed, analyzed, and evaluated by qualified, objective, post-secondary faculty and subject matter experts.
Hundreds of organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, professional and volunteer associations, schools, training suppliers, labor unions, and government agencies have relied on ACE's trusted evaluations to help improve the skill and education level of their employees and members. Learning Evaluations helps your organization increase your training return on investment.
What is the American Council on Education (ACE) Learning Evaluations?
Learning Evaluations (formerly CREDIT) was established in 1974 to connect workplace learning with colleges and universities by helping adults gain access to academic credit for formal courses and examinations taken outside of traditional degree programs.
For decades, colleges and universities have trusted ACE to provide reliable course equivalency information to facilitate credit award decisions. Participating organizations include corporations, professional and volunteer associations, schools, training suppliers, labor unions, and government agencies. Decades of experience give Learning Evaluations faculty evaluators the ability to assess an organization's high-quality training programs and determine if they may successfully transfer to college credit.
Can my organization receive retroactive credit?
Retroactive credit may be granted to organizations on a case-by-case basis up to 6 months in arrears. It is the responsibility of the organization to alert Learning Evaluations staff that retroactive credit is desired. In addition, organizations must provide supporting documents to justify the retroactive credit. These documents include, but are not limited to, samples of graded student assessments, syllabi, and lessons.
Who from my organization should be present at the review?
Depending on your organization's structure, the Review Lead should meet representatives responsible for:
- student records, registration and enrollment
- instruction design or curriculum development
- training, delivery and assessment management
When will my constituents be able to receive Learning Evaluations recommendations?
Upon approval by Learning Evaluations, and typically within 30 business days following successful completion of a review, organizations will be able to issue digital badges and free academic transcripts to individual learners via Credly's Acclaim.
What is a technical review?
Organizations with courses or examinations that hold credit recommendations must report any changes made to the courses or examinations within 30 days. If significant changes are reported, the course or examination will need to undergo a technical review. The technical review is designed to determine if the credit recommendation on the altered course or examination is still valid and may result in a new credit recommendation. It is recommended that organizations request a technical review any time significant changes are made to their credit-recommended courses or examinations. ACE's Learning Evaluations team may also audit organizations to determine changes to its administration or to its courses or examinations. The audit may result in a technical review.
What is a conditional review?
During the review, the evaluation team may determine that a course or examination very closely aligns to a post-secondary level program of study, but, requires some adjustments in order for a credit recommendation to be made. In that case, the team may offer a conditional recommendation with very specific, measurable expectations. The organization must make the changes and resubmit the course or examination for re-evaluation in order for the course to be recommended for credit. If the conditions are not met, the course or examination will not have a credit recommendation. The effective date for conditional reviews is the first date of the month when the conditional is lifted.
What does it mean when the credit recommendation states, “Credit will be granted based on an individual assessment”?
If a college or university wants to award credit, it has the option of providing the student with a
portfolio assessment or any other experiential learning options that are open to all students to earn academic credit for related work experience.
Why don’t I get the same credit for Version 2 as recommended for Version 1?
Each version of a credit recommendation is based on a separate evaluation. If the learning outcomes or curriculum have changed, it is likely that the ACE credit recommendations have changed as well. As an example, a learner may have completed a course for 18 weeks in 2017 and the same course offered in 2020 has been reduced to only 12 weeks. The shortened course will likely necessitate a change in learning outcomes and curriculum covered, which will likely change the ACE Learning Evaluations recommendation.
What is the difference between CLEP/DSST examinations and military ACE credit recommendations?
CLEP/DSST exams are college-level equivalency exams. These exams are formal assessments that help college-bound students document and demonstrate their knowledge in specific subject areas. ACE Learning Evaluations for the Military credit recommendations are the result of an evaluation process that validates formal military training and occupation experiences.