Cashing In: How to Get Real Value from Your Lifelong Learning
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2013
Pages: 96
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2013
Pages: 98
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Do you need help navigating the higher education maze? Do you want to return to school but feel overwhelmed and have no idea where to begin?
Whether this is your first time or are returning to college to complete an unfinished degree, the process can be confusing. How do you select a degree program? How do you select a school? What about the cost? And most of all, how can you get college credit from your many years of experience and work?
Cashing In provides you with the questions to ask yourself. Each chapter provides you with a step-by-step “how-to” navigate higher education including valuable resources and web links to find the information that matters most to you. A few chapters focus on specifically on earning credit from your lifelong learning; how to reflect, document, and organize learning acquired outside the traditional classroom.
So, let’s get started with discovering what exactly experiential learning is!
Chapter 1 Learning from the Experience of Living
Experiential Learning
Characteristics of Experiential Learning
History of Experiential Learning
Changes in Post-Secondary Learning Outside of Traditional Classrooms
Technology
Supply and Demand
Rising Prices
A New Age for Learning and Assessment
Summary
Chapter 2 Breaking through Assessment Barriers in Higher Education
Principle of Scarcity in Higher Education
Scarcity of Access
Other Points of Scarcity
Psychologically Remote
Academically Remote
Financially Remote
Pedagogically Remote
Organizationally Remote
New Opportunities: Breaking through the Barriers
Unlimited Content
Improved Prior Learning Assessment and Credit Portability
Mass Personalization and Customization
Personalization
Customization
Summary
Chapter 3 Earning Credit for Non-Traditional Learning: Three Personal Perspectives
Prior Learning Assessment
Recognized and Accepted Methods of Prior Learning Assessment
Standardized Exams
Challenge Exams
ACE Credit Recommendations
ACE Military Guide
Portfolio Development and Assessment
The Value of Prior Learning Assessment
First, Meet Martha
Peg’s Story
And Now, Phil’s Story
Summary
Chapter 4 Mapping Non-Traditional Learning through Porfolio Development
Developing a Portfolio for Assessment
Getting Started: Identifying Your Experiential Learning
College-level Learning vs. Experiential Learning
College-level Learning
Experiential Learning
Reflection: How You Have Learned over the Years
Written Material
Experts
Multimedia
Conversations
Groups
The Mapping Process: Portfolio Development
Educational Goal Statement
Expanded Resume
Learning Autobiography
Course Petitions
Supporting Documentation
Chapter 5 Selecting a Certificate or Degree Program That Fits
Overview of Program Options
Vocational or Technical Education
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Professional Education
Choosing a Degree Program
Goals
Purpose
Interests
Type of Degree
Accreditation
Previous Credits
Prior Learning
Learning Experience
Online Programs
Traditional Programs
Hybrid Programs
Timeframe
Budget
Next Steps
Summary
Chapter 6 Selecting a College or University That Fits
Eight Steps to Choosing the Right College
Step 1: Get Started!
Step 2: Decide What Your Goals Are for Going to School
Step 3: Understand the Options That Are Available to You
Type of School
Type of Instructional Delivery
Accreditation
Policy on Prior Learning Assessment
Cost
General Institutional Characteristics
Step 4: Rate the Criteria in Order of Importance When Selecting a School
Step 5: Develop a List of Possible Schools and Request Information from Each
Step 6: Research, Investigate, and Research More
Step 7: Apply to Your Top Choices
Step 8: Select Your School!
Chapter 7 Connecting Learning to Earning: Understanding the Big Picture
Turning Points
Successful Transitions
Elaine
Joan
Ray
Complete the Connection: Learning to Earning
Validation of Competencies
Validation of Learning
Complete the Connection
Chapter 8 Financing Your Education
What Is the Price of Attending College?
Decreasing the Cost of College
Low- or No-Cost Courses and Training
Know Your Finance Options
Cash Pay
Employer Tuition Benefits
U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid
GI Bill
Credit or Personal Loan
Credit Card
Types of Financial Aid
Federal Financial Aid
School-based Scholarship and Grants
Private Scholarships and Grants
Making Financial Decisions
Set an Educational Budget!
Financial Aid Pitfalls
Chapter 9 Understanding Transfer Policies
What Is Transfer?
How the Transfer Process Works
Other Forms of Transfer
Articulation Agreement
Common Course Numbering
Planning a Transfer
Understanding How Credit Transfer Policies May Vary
Maximum Credits Transferred
Residency Requirements
Prior Learning Assessment
Accreditation
Grade Standards
Summary
Glossary
Susan Huggins has nearly 20 years of experience in higher education administration and nontraditional learning strategies working with employers and local workforce development boards to develop and implement customized training leading to certificate and degree programs.
Prior to her current position as Portfolio Assessment Director with Kaplan Higher Education Group, Susan was Associate Director in the Center for Lifelong Learning with the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, D.C., where she utilized her higher education experience to connect adult learners with corporate training to higher education programs through the College Credit Recommendation Service (CREDIT). Before joining ACE, Susan served as the Director of Military and Government Contract Training at Florida Community College at Jacksonville (now Florida State College), where she managed government and military training programs and delivered degree programs for service members through multiple instructional methods. She has experience developing articulation agreements, developing and implementing programs with the intent of creating a smooth educational path for adults.
Susan is a member of the Council on Standards Development for the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is a member of the ePortfolio Committee for the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC). In addition to managing the portfolio development and assessment process at Kaplan University, she also teaches and develops curriculum in the management and business fields. Susan is an adult learner herself, continuing her education as an adult. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Workforce Education from Southern Illinois University and her Master of Arts in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. She has also completed post-graduate courses with a focus on higher education leadership at the University of Florida.
Peter Smith has been leading innovation in higher education domestically and internationally for more than 40 years. Founder and first president of two colleges, the Community College of Vermont (1970) and California State University, Monterey Bay (1995), Peter has also served as the Dean of the Graduate School of Education at George Washington University and as the Assistant Director General for Education at UNESCO in Paris, France.
Peter’s focus throughout his career has been on adult learners, work readiness, new service delivery models, and new ways to recognize learning wherever and whenever it has occurred. As a member of the founding board of the Council for the Assessment of Experiential Learning (CAEL), Peter has worked throughout his career to help lifelong learners use assessment as a pedagogical tool that actually helps them learn more.
Smith has written dozens of articles and three books – Your Hidden Credentials: The Value of Learning Outside of College (1986), The Quiet Crisis: How Higher Education is Failing America (Anker, 2004), and Harnessing America’s Wasted Talent: A New Ecology of Learning ( Jossey-Bass, 2010).
As Senior Vice President of Academic Strategies and Development at Kaplan Higher Education Group, Peter has been heavily involved in several innovative developments. They include an online and blended approach to assessing prior experiential learning (KNEXT), a consistent approach to using learning outcomes across the curriculum, and most recently, the development of Qualified, a Career planning and development ecosystem. Peter also served in the Vermont State Senate and as Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor before entering the US Congress in 1989. He has served on many boards and Commissions including the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, The Committee for Economic Development, the Executive Council of the WICHE Center for Education Technology, the Council of State Government’s Advisory board on Higher Education, and the President’s Forum.
A graduate of Princeton University, Magna Cum Laude (1968) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education (MAT, 1972; EdD, 1982), Peter’s professional interest, career and personal journey have helped him become a conscious, reflective, lifelong learner himself.