PLACE (Prior Learning Activity for Credit Evaluation) is Northern Virginia Community College's experiential Learning portfolio program.  It is for adults who have gained college level learning through work, volunteer activities, participation in civic and community assignments, travel, independent study and similar life experiences.

REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES

Enrolling in a three credit course, STD 298, is required of all students wishing to obtain credit through experiential learning.  The purpose of this course is to teach students how to develop, prepare and assemble the portfolio which is required if the student wishes to obtain credit for his/her experiential learning.  Each portfolio consists of six parts:

A life history (mainly work history) paper to introduce the student to the faculty evaluator and to help the student remember all the many lifetime accomplishments. 

A chronological record which is a short synopsis of year-by-year major happenings in your adult life. 

A goals paper which helps the student focus and shows the faculty evaluator where the student plans to go in the short term and long term future. 

A narrative of competencies which describes where learning took place and a very detailed description of that learning based on the course content summary. 

A copy of the college course content summary for the course to be challenged.  These course content summaries are available for you from the college's Office of Curriculum and Enrollment Services. 

Documentation which is tangible proof of each statement made of major accomplishments and learning experiences (transcripts, letters of verification, job descriptions, performance evaluations, pictures, tax statements, audio tapes, video tapes, samples of work produced, computer programs written, etc.). 

The course requirement for STD 298 is the submission of one portfolio.  You may challenge up to 15 credits through portfolio development.

The following are some questions for you to consider before registering for this course. 

How long have you been in the workforce? 

What type of degree are you pursuing at NVCC?   The NVCC Catalog will list all courses which are taught at the college and provide a brief description of each. Reviewing these courses and program/curriculum requirements will help you to determine whether you might be a good candidate. 

Do your degree goals match your work experiences? 
Example: If you have been involved with day care centers as an employee and wish to earn a degree in Early Childhood Education, PLACE would likely be a good opportunity for you to turn your experience into college credit (max. 15). If you have been working with computers for a number of years but wish to become a French teacher, most likely PLACE credits would not be appropriate. 

What credits, courses, etc. do you have from NVCC and other sources.  For example, the NVCC Advanced Standing Booklet lists many sources of credit that exist.  It is imperative that you review this book, consider all previous educational experiences -- both traditional and non-traditional.   Knowing where you are academically is critical to determining how you may best reach your goal. 

If you are close to the completion of your degree (6 credits or less), is it cost and time effective for you to take STD 298: PLACE ?  Taking PLACE is typically not cost or time effective for the development of one portfolio.  Developing a portfolio is a time intensive activity, and in terms of cost, you will pay the same tuition for a portfolio to be reviewed by a faculty member as you would if your were to attend the class for an entire semester. 

Are there alternative ways to gain credit?  For example, if you are interested in developing a PLACE portfolio for English composition, ENG 111 and ENG 112, did you know that it is far less expensive and time consuming to take a CLEP (College Level Examination Program) test?   The Advanced Standing Booklet at campus counseling centers lists which exams are available, minimum scores required, and possible testing sites.