Athens State University and Wallace State Community College have signed a Memorandum of Understanding designed to help Wallace State students retain prior learning assessment (PLA) credit when they transfer to Athens State after completing their associate degree.
Students who receive PLA/CPL credit are more likely to successfully retain and graduate than the general college and university population. Many institutions in the state of Alabama are encouraging students to take advantage of learning that is acquired outside of the classroom; however, because PLA/CPL does not transfer, students have been faced with a choice between not receiving the credit they have earned, taking classes they already received credit for, or going through two or more lengthy and costly PLA reviews when they transfer from their community college to a university.
The Alabama Governor’s Office and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education are actively pursuing crosswalks for accepting PLA credit across the state of Alabama. Athens State University and Wallace State Community College have built a first-of-its-kind transfer pathway for PLA credit received at one institution to transfer to the other.
“This partnership with Wallace State is another way to remove barriers that adult learners face,” said Felicia Mucci, Director of Athens State’s Adult Degree Program. “By accepting PLA credit that was awarded at Wallace State, we are letting students know that we recognize how valuable learning obtained from work, training, and certifications is to their overall educational goals.”