Our Mission

The Mission of the Division is to support students in our robust degree completion programs by providing a focused set of support services. By utilizing each student’s Prior Learning to provide credit towards their degree, they will complete their degree program at a faster rate, enabling career development.

Prior Learning Credit

At Tarleton, we know that your learning happens every day. That’s why we have a comprehensive set of tools to recognize, evaluate, and grant academic credit for training programs, workforce courses, and even some experiential knowledge. Challenge exams through the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), including your prior learning experience, provides the opportunity to receive over 36 credit hours that will be applied to your degree. This saves you time AND money!

Employer-Based Training/Military Service

Students who have documented training from their employer, relevant to the degree, can receive credit hours based on the standard formulas below. Coursework that comes from non-regionally accredited institutions will be treated as training hours, not semester credit hours.  Self-employed students are not eligible for employer-sponsored training unless the training was performed and documented by a third party.

If you have served our country in the military, the skills you learned in your MOS will be reflected on your ACE Smart Transcript. Depending on the degree program, this is all the documentation needed to be granted credit hours.

Credit for training hours will be granted based on the following formula:

• 15 Clock Hours = 1-semester hour credit
• 1 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) = 10 clock hours

Credit-Based Hours

Primarily, credit-based hours are courses included in the Texas Workforce Education Manual (WECM) or related fields in the field of study. Each program has an occupational statement providing guidance on acceptable fields to support their major. 

Courses that are eligible for consideration will be counted based on the following formula:

• Semester Credit hours = Full Credit
• Quarter hours x 2/3 = semester hours  (or .66 of each quarter hour)

Experiential Credit

Students can document the learning they accomplished through on-the-job experiences by submitting a challenge portfolio that describes how their projects, experiences, and credentials match existing program outcomes for their degree. This can award 3-9 hours of course credit.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

CLEP exams allow people to test out of introductory college courses they already have prior knowledge in. While it is not used for occupational credit, like Training and Workforce courses, it can help complete some of the introductory courses required in the University Core curriculum For more information visit University Testing

Programs That Use Credit for Prior Learning

Tarleton has the most diverse programs that utilize your Prior Learning Experience to recognize your existing skills. There are 15 different programs across four career pathways to provide the best fit for your career goals.

Bachorlate Degree Completion Program