TITLE: ADVANCED STANDING POLICY
POLICY NO: 1-21 EFFECTIVE DATE: 10/01/90
VCCS POLICY NO: 5.6.5.1 REVISED DATE: 07/18/17

I. Purpose:

To describe college policy for awarding academic credit for previous experiences.

II. Definitions:

Advanced standing: the application of awarded credit for subject matter competency, earned by means other than instruction at this institution, toward satisfying program requirements.

Credit by advanced placement: a means of achieving advanced standing through the administration of the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB), advanced placement (AP) program, the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, Excelsior Credit by Exam (ECE), Cambridge Advanced Exams (A/AS), Defense Language Proficiency Test or Foreign Language Achievement Test (FLATS), provided the examination scores are acceptable for credit.

Credit by Assessment by Local Exam (ABLE): a means of achieving advanced standing through satisfactorily demonstrating subject-matter competency by means of an examination administered by the college.

Credit by equated occupational experience: includes experiential learning and the submission of portfolios as a means of achieving advanced standing, through an administrative determination by the college that the occupational experience of an individual is at least equivalent to the course(s) to be exempted.

Credit for occupational experience: a means of achieving advanced standing for previous noncollegiate education, training, and/or previous occupational experiences, as recommended by the American Council of Education.

Credit by previous completion: a means of achieving advanced standing through an administrative determination by the college that equivalent course coverage has been satisfactorily completed at an accredited postsecondary institution.

Military credit: a means of achieving advanced standing through applicable armed service school experiences, and for successful completion of correspondence courses and subject standardized tests (SST) of the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Educational Support (DANTES), formerly the United States Armed Forces Institute (USAFI). Advanced standing may also be awarded in accordance to the ACE Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services.

III. Policy:

No more than 75% of a degree or certificate may be earned through advanced standing credit. Only students who are admitted to a program may receive advanced standing. Awarded credit is added to the student's permanent record, but it is not used for computation of the grade point average and does not carry a letter grade.

Advanced standing credits are placed on the permanent record and transcript by type. Types of advanced standing recognized by the college are: credit by ABLE, credit by previous completion, credit by equated occupational experience, credit by advanced placement, military credit, and credit for occupational experience.

The Transfer Evaluation Handbook has been developed to provide an organizational and procedural framework for awarding the acceptable forms of advanced standing.

The Transfer Evaluation Handbook shall be reviewed bi-annually by a group consisting of academic leaders and Admissions and Records staff.

IV. Procedures:

Procedures related to the awarding of advanced standing credit are contained in the Transfer Evaluation Handbook.

V. Other Information:

Transfer Evaluation Handbook