{"id":11010,"date":"2025-11-24T20:07:44","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T20:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/?page_id=11010"},"modified":"2025-12-02T17:26:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:26:13","slug":"prior-learning-assessment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/academic-workforce-alliances\/statewide-initiatives-alliances\/prior-learning-assessment\/","title":{"rendered":"Prior learning assessment (PLA)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"nau-block nau-block-left-nav-top-bound\">\n    \t<button id=\"left-nav-toggle-btn\" onclick=\"toggleNav();\">\n\t\tON THIS PAGE \n\t\t<i id=\"chevron-icon\" class=\"fas fa-solid fa-chevron-down\"><\/i>\n\t<\/button>\n\t<div id=\"left-nav-menu-track\">\n\t\t<div id=\"left-nav-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"rfi-above-anchor-tags\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ri-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/nau.edu\/admissions\/request-information\/\" id=\"request-info\" class=\"btn bg-true-blue left-nav-menu-bottom-button display-mobile\">Request info&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div id=\"left-nav-menu\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"menu-section menu-section-links\"><h6 class=\"hidden-mobile left-nav-list-header\">ON THIS PAGE<\/h6><ul class=\"left-nav-menu-list left-nav-automatic on-this-page\"><\/ul><div class=\"ri-container\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nau.edu\/admissions\/request-information\/\" id=\"request-info\" class=\"btn bg-true-blue left-nav-menu-bottom-button display-mobile\">Request info&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/a><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"menu-section backcolor\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHOW CAN WE HELP?\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"responsive-icons\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"link-button\" onclick=\"embedLouieChatbot();\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 20px;\" src=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/themes\/nau-marketing-2021\/img\/icon-chat.svg\" alt=\"Live chat:\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChat\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"tel:928-523-5511\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/themes\/nau-marketing-2021\/img\/icon-phone.svg\" alt=\"Telephone:\"> 928-523-5511<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"mailto:admissions@nau.edu\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/themes\/nau-marketing-2021\/img\/icon-email.svg\" alt=\"Email:\"><span class=\"left-nav-email\"> admissions@nau.edu <\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<section class=\"nau-block left-nav-section\"><header class=\"entry-header\"><div class=\"breadcrumb\"><ol class=\"breadcrumbs\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\">IN<\/a><span class=\"breadcrumb-chevron\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&gt;<\/span><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\">Provost<\/a><span class=\"breadcrumb-chevron\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&gt;<\/span><\/li><li class=\"current\">Pages<\/li><\/ol><\/div><h1 class=\"entry-title text-left \">Prior learning assessment (PLA)<\/h1><hr class=\"h1-hr  text-left \" role=\"none\"><\/header><!-- .entry-header --><\/section><!-- <section class=\"nau-block left-nav-section grid-md-12\">\n    <header class=\"entry-header\">\n        <h1 class=\"entry-title text-left \" tabindex=\"0\" id=\"h1-first\">Dummy H1<\/h1>\n        <hr class=\"h1-hr  text-left \" role=\"none\">\n    <\/header>\n<\/section> -->\n\n<section class=\"nau-block left-nav-section grid-md-12\">\n    <div class=\"page-content\">\n        \n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is PLA?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is designed for learners who bring valuable experience to their educational journey. If you have previous college credits, professional training, military service, or years of work expertise, PLA helps you earn credit for what you already know. This means you can finish your degree faster, save money, and focus on courses that truly advance your career. Instead of repeating material you\u2019ve mastered, PLA recognizes your accomplishments and applies them toward your academic goals. Whether you\u2019re returning to school to complete a degree or seeking career advancement, PLA offers a flexible, affordable pathway to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Military training and experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your military service has equipped you with valuable skills and knowledge\u2014and Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) ensures it counts toward your degree. NAU awards credit for military training, leadership experience, and specialized coursework completed through programs like the Joint Services Transcript (JST). By converting your service into academic credit, PLA helps you save time, reduce tuition costs, and accelerate your path to graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Certificates and exams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) allows you to turn professional certifications and standardized exams into college credit. If you\u2019ve completed industry-recognized training or hold credentials in fields like business, healthcare, education, or technology, your achievements can count toward your degree. NAU accepts credits from exams such as CLEP, and other competency-based assessments, helping you bypass courses you\u2019ve already mastered. This approach saves time, reduces tuition costs, and accelerates your path to graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Work\/life experience portfolio<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) portfolio is a powerful way to earn college credit for your professional and life experiences. Through this process, you create a detailed portfolio that demonstrates your knowledge, skills, and accomplishments gained outside the classroom\u2014such as work projects, leadership roles, volunteer service, or specialized training. Faculty experts review your portfolio to determine how your experience aligns with college-level learning outcomes. This personalized approach allows learners to validate real-world expertise and apply it toward degree requirements, saving time and reducing costs. If you have extensive experience but limited formal credentials, the PLA portfolio offers a flexible, affordable pathway to accelerate your education.<\/p>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"mailto:statewideinitiatives@nau.edu\">Contact a PLA Coordinator<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"parent":5782,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","ring_central_script_selection":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11010","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11010"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11035,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11010\/revisions\/11035"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}