If you are interested in coming to LBCC for a degree or certificate but already have some expertise in your area of interest, we want to ensure that your experiences are recognized and translated into college credits, saving you time and money.

We offer a program called Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) that does this in a few different ways:

• Standardized National Exams
• Challenge Exams
• Training and Certificates
• (Future) Credit for Prior Learning Portfolio
• (Future) LBCC Non-Credit Training Certificates or Provider Training

LBCC awards credit when an assessment of prior learning corresponds to equivalent courses at LBCC in your program of choice. We do not award credits that you may qualify for if they won’t help you earn your desired degree or certificate since that would be a waste of your money and might affect your financial aid eligibility in the future.

There is no college-wide limit to how many credits you can receive through CPL. However, awarded credit cannot be used toward meeting the minimum number of earned credits required to be taken at LBCC:

• Associate degree (15 credits)
• For non-credit training certificate and certificates requiring a total of ten credits or fewer, all courses must be taken at LBCC.

There is an administrative fee associated with each credit that you are awarded through CPL (except for credit through standardized national exams). That fee is $40 per course in 2024-25.

We invite you to make an appointment with our CPL experts to explore what type of method for seeking an award of credit is appropriate.

Credit for Prior Learning Options