What Is an Accredited Life Experience Based College Degree?

An accredited life experience based college degree is conferred as a result of credits earned for achievements in job training, employment history, work skills and education. Accredited life experience based college degrees typically are available from 2- and 4-year colleges and universities.

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Accredited Life Experience Based College Degree: An Overview

Types of Accredited Life Experience Based College Degrees

Some colleges offer associate's and bachelor's life experience based college degrees. They are available in areas such as engineering, public administration, culinary arts, drafting, human resources and project management. Students may pursue accredited life experience based college degrees to help them compete with others who already have degrees but lack practical job experience. Some employers may not consider accredited life experience based college degrees to be as prestigious as traditional degrees.

Requirements for an Accredited Life Experience Based College Degree

Accredited life experience based college degree programs require applicants to have completed a minimum amount of life experience related to the desired program. Life experience may include employer-sponsored seminars, workshops and training or military education, as well as courses taken at a college, university, vocational or technical school. Volunteer work with relevant organizations and independent writing and reading may also count toward an accredited life experience based college degree.

Applicants for an accredited life experience based college degrees must submit credentials such as college course transcripts, awards, certificates, portfolios and job reviews. Some life experience degree programs may accept letters from former employers describing job responsibilities and accomplishments in detail. Accredited life experience based college degree programs may administer exams to assess life experience and previous learning.

Accreditation of Life Experience Based College Degree Programs

Some life experience based college degree programs are not accredited and are not highly regarded. Students should be especially wary of master's and Ph.D. life experience based degrees because they are typically not accredited by creditable organizations.

To check the credibility of organizations that accredit life experience based college degrees, search a database of 6,900 accredited post-secondary institutions provided by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). Users can search the database by names of accrediting organizations, school names and city and state (http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation).

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