Purdue Global Alternative Credit Center honored with Innovate Award by the Online Learning Consortium

Others are taking notice. On Tuesday (March 22), “The Alternative Credit Center at Purdue Global: Open Degree Programs, Portfolios, and Assessments” was selected for an Innovate Award by the Online Learning Consortium, a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators.

The Purdue Global Alternative Credit Center provides opportunities for both degree-seeking and nondegree-seeking students. It accepts eligible credits through portfolio development, open learning courses, course assessments and work/life experience. Purdue Global offers free online services and personalized mentoring to help learners identify and organize prior work and life experience and skills that could count toward a degree or career growth.

“We are really proud of the work that we do within our Alternative Credit Center, recognizing the knowledge and skills our students have when they come to Purdue Global, and providing opportunities for them to earn credit and in so doing saving time and money,” said Jody DeKorte, Purdue Global vice president and dean of the School of General Education. “This really allows us to help students see that what they know counts.”

Associate Dean Michele Riley oversees the Alternative Credit Center and professional studies programs with support from faculty member Carolyn Stevenson.

“Purdue Global faculty are trained to evaluate each student’s work/life experiences,” Riley said. “The student presents their work and life experiences while showcasing the learning that occurs in this process. It is impressive to see the amount of learning our students have experienced.”

Purdue Global offers two courses on credit for work experience, where students can document their prior experiences and explain what they gained from these experiences in formal learning statements. This portfolio development and assessment process is designed with the high level of academic rigor found at accredited higher learning institutions. There is a strong emphasis on quality in the assessment process, which adheres to the 10 Standards for Quality Assurance in Assessing Leaning, as set forth by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. Students subsequently use a course-match model to map their learning statements to the learning outcomes of college-level courses offered by regionally or nationally accredited institutions.

Students who submit a portfolio for review earn on average 35 credits and can save more than $11,000 on tuition.

Other recipients of the Innovate Award for this year are Northern Virginia Community College, Oregon State University Ecampus and Department of Chemistry, and King Khiled University.

“We are pleased to honor these outstanding institutions and educators for their innovative efforts in the areas of online, blended, and digital learning,” said Jennifer Mathes, chief executive officer of the Online Learning Consortium. “Their efforts with their colleagues and other institutions showcase leading programs in the education field.”

About Purdue University Global

Purdue University Global delivers personalized online education tailored to the unique needs of adults who have work or life experience beyond the classroom, enabling them to develop essential academic and professional skills with the support and flexibility they need to achieve their career goals. It offers personalized paths for students to earn an associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, desired pace, military service, previous college credits and other considerations – no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It is affiliated with Purdue University’s flagship institution, a highly ranked public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue University also operates regional campuses in Fort Wayne and Northwest Indiana, as well as serving science, engineering and technology students at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. For more information, visit purdueglobal.edu.

About the Online Learning Consortium

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is a collaborative community of education leaders and innovators dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage the modern learner – anyone, anywhere, anytime. The growing OLC community includes faculty members, administrators, trainers, instructional designers and other learning professionals, as well as educational institutions, professional societies and corporate enterprises. Visit onlinelearningconsortium.org for more information.