Expanding Access to Credit for Prior Learning

The Alternative Credit Project

ACE established the Alternative Credit Project​™ ​​(ACP) to encourage greater acceptance of adult learners’ alternative credit and create a more flexible pathway toward degree completion.

The project began in 2014 and grew to include 53 colleges and universities that guaranteed to accept all or some of the 104 ACE credit-recommended courses in the project that were offered by six participating nontraditional general education course providers. Colleges agreed to accept the courses for direct transfer credit toward a student’s degree program and share anonymized data with ACE on the ACP students’ retention, persistence, and success.

The ACP grant-funded project formally ended on March 31, 2018. Please refer to the final report for information about the key takeaways from this project. ACE is grateful to the institutions that participated in the project for their ongoing commitment to increasing access to quality education opportunities and postsecondary attainment. Many of the participants continue to articulate ACE credit recommendations.

Learners can also reference the ACE National Guide for updates on the credit recommendations for courses previously included in the ACP, as well as all ACE credit-recommended courses from employers and nontraditional providers.​​