Earn Credit for What You Already Know

Your previous learning and experience may help you earn college credit. Explore how work experience, military service, certifications, and other learning can count toward your degree or certificate.

How It Works

Before we award you ACPL, we carefully assess if the knowledge, skills, and abilities you’ve gained align with what you’d learn in one of our courses. If they match, you can earn credit for your non-traditional learning.

Guidelines and Categories

GRC  follows the guidelines set by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. There are four categories of credit for non-traditional learning, listed below.

Academic credit for prior learning may be for you if you have developed skills, knowledge and abilities outside the classroom that can be matched with the learning outcomes from your program courses. Some of the ways you may have mastered college level learning are through:

  • Workplace experience
  • Military service and training
  • Corporate training
  • Business ownership
  • Volunteer work
  • Civic leadership

College credits may be awarded for your professional certifications and licensure if the organization providing the training program is recognized by the American Council on Education (ACE), international, federal, state or local agencies, and the appropriate Pierce College academic department determines that the certification/license is college-equivalent learning.

To receive academic credit for prior learning, an online portfolio development course may be required to help you organize, reflect upon and write about your learning experiences for which you are seeking college credit. Note that not all programs or courses are eligible for ACPL. Check with your program coordinator to determine if this option is available to you. A faculty member will be assigned to you as a faculty evaluator. The faculty evaluator will conduct the ACPL assessment and determine the amount of college credit that can be awarded. The assessment is not complete until the faculty evaluator has signed off.

Extra-Institutional Learning (Industry Credentials)

You can earn college credit at GRC for many industry certifications, including the areas of fire science, criminal justice, information technology, early childhood education, accounting and medical coding.

To apply for Extra-Institutional Learning credit, create a Credit Predictor Pro account. Upload your certificates and other documentation. The ACPL program specialist will review your certificates and award credit as appropriate. It takes about one week to process this type of ACPL credit.

If you’re working toward a transfer degree, you can earn up to 15 elective credits through Extra-Institutional Learning. For an associate in general studies, you can earn up to 45 credits. For other degrees and certificates, you may complete up to half of your required credits through industry credentials. Keep in mind that some four-year colleges may not accept Extra-Institutional Learning credits as transfer.

If you have questions, email records@greenriver.edu.

You can earn college credit at Green River College through Advanced Placement (AP), College Level Exam Program (CLEP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge International (CI) exams. Credit is based on your test scores. GRC awards credit based on the State Board recommendations. See the catalog for more information.

There is no fee for Credit by Testing.

To earn Credit by Testing, submit your official scores to Everett Community College. Links to request official scores are as below:

You may earn up to two-thirds of the credits required for a degree or certificate through Credit by Testing. These credits can count toward required classes or electives. For transfer degrees, most universities accept AP and IB credit as general education or transferable electives. However, many four-year schools do not accept CLEP or CI credit, so check your intended college’s policy if you plan to transfer.

If you already know the material for a class, you can pass a challenge exam to earn credit for that class. This option is for students who have training, work experience, private study or other preparation giving them the same knowledge as those who completed the class.

To apply for a course challenge, fill out the course challenge exam request form and have it signed by the instructor of the course and the appropriate dean. If you are currently enrolled in the class you want to challenge, you must follow GRC’s regular withdrawal procedures and deadlines.

You may earn up to 50% of their degree or certificate through a course challenge exam. Not every GRC course can be taken via challenge exam. If you wish to take a challenge exam, speak to a faculty member or the ACPL program specialist to determine if the course is eligible. Course challenge exams are subject to the following restrictions:

  • Activity courses may not be challenged.
  • Courses taken previously at a regionally accredited institution may not be challenged.
  • Courses previously audited at GRC may not be challenged.
  • An individual course may be challenged only once