Credit for Prior Learning

Who is eligible for CPL?

To be eligible for CPL, a student must be a matriculated undergraduate student at SUNY ESF in a bachelor’s degree program. Due to the nature of the Ranger School programs, students may not use prior learning credits to apply to any of the required residential courses.

What CPL options are there?

There are many possible options for earning credit for your prior learning experiences! 

Standardized Tests

Transfer Credit Evaluation

Students may be awarded up to 90 transfer credits from regionally accredited colleges and universities that are validated by an official transcript. Credit courses from institutions with other than regional accreditation may be evaluated for transfer purposes on a case-by-case basis, by request of the student. Students must receive a grade of C or better to earn credit for their transfer courses. 

To see our cooperative transfer agreements, please check the website below. 

Cooperative Transfer Agreements

International credit

College-level courses passed with a letter grade of C or higher completed outside the United States and recorded on official transcripts will be evaluated for transfer credit, provided that the institution where the courses were taken is accredited by the Ministry of Education in that country. International transfer students who have completed college level courses outside the United States may be requested to submit proof of accreditation by the Ministry of Education or provide a WES (World Education Service) evaluation.

Military Credit

Credit for military service may be awarded by:

• Joint Services Transcript (JST)
• Community College of the Air Force
• DANTES (Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support)
• DSST (DANTES Subject Standarized Tests).

As with other transfer institutions and standardized tests, students must send their official transcripts or score reports to ESF to receive a credit evaluation. Courses or exams that do not have a direct equivalency may be eligible for ESF Challenge Examination evaluation or Credit for Prior Learning Portfolio review. Matriculated students may apply for these credits following the outlined procedures.

Professional Certifications

If you have successfully completed these certifications, you may be eligible for prior learning credit:

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) 30

Scuba Open Water Dive Certification 

Challenge Exams

Students may establish credit for coursework based on activities other than normal class attendance. Each academic unit establishes its own policy for challenge exam opportunities following these guidelines:

• • The basis for establishing credit must be explicitly formulated and approved in advance by the divisional faculty, the chairperson, and the Associate Provost. A copy must be on file in the Registrar’s Office.
  • Credit established under this policy must be used to satisfy degree requirements and must not extend the total number of credit hours required for graduation.
  • No more than 12 credit hours can be awarded by challenge exams for an individual student.
  • A grade of EX will be assigned for students who successfully pass their challenge exam. EX grades are not counted when calculating the student’s GPA.
  • A fee may be assessed for students taking a challenge exam, regardless of whether credit is awarded. 
  • Credits earned through this procedure may not be applied toward full-time status for a semester.
  • A student may only attempt a challenge exam for a particular course once.
  • Studio, lab, and field courses are not eligible for challenge exams.

Portfolio Review

Credit by Portfolio Review is designed to provide matriculated students with an alternative method of obtaining college credit. Knowledge acquired from a combination of work experience, non-credit courses, seminar training, workshops etc. may translate into college credit. If you can document your experience and articulate the learning that resulted based on the Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) of the course, you may be eligible to receive Prior Learning credit.

How to earn credit by portfolio:

• • Any credit awarded by portfolio review will be considered the same as transfer credit, which is not GPA eligible.
  • The course number, title, credit hours and the notation of “Credit for Experiential Learning (CEL)” will be recorded on the transcript.
  • Students may only request for portfolio review in courses that have an equivalent at ESF.
  • Portfolios will be reviewed by the faculty or department that delivers the course content. They will forward their recommendation for approval or denial of credit to the Office of Academic Administration.
  • The Associate Director or the Associate Provost for Academic Administration is responsible for the final review of the portfolio documents and will approve or disapprove the granting of credit for prior learning based on the submitted portfolio demonstrating fulfillment of the stated Student Learning Outcomes of the course in question.

To submit your interest in CPL review for challenge exams, portfolio review or professional certifications, please complete this form. All other CPL requests, work with your academic advisor.