The existence and use of these standards has helped to make it possible to transform specific numbers of hours of approved training in defined core knowledge areas into college credit that counts toward a certificate or degree. Some colleges have adapted their existing courses into workshop series offered in the community, while some community organizations have offered training in traditional or distance learning formats that could later earn college credit. In some of these states, practitioners have the option of deciding up to two years later whether or not to seek college credit. When they accumulate 120 hours of training, practitioners will be able to take the certificates to a college of their choice to transform the hours for college credit. College Certificates and Degrees Institutionalized linkages across college programs is also known as articulation of college programs.
Articulation affects members of the field in two ways.
First, articulation means that within the same college every level of training counts toward the next level. In other words, if the college has a certificate program any credits a student earns in that program will also count toward any degree offered by that college. Articulation also means that two colleges or a group of colleges agree to accept each other's credits or degrees, enabling a student to apply credits or degrees earned at one institution to their matriculation at another college. For example, a person who completes an associate's degree at one college that involved completing 60-63 credits should be able to have all or almost all of those credits count toward a bachelor's degree at another college in the same field. It is a much broader approach to getting college credit and works particularly well for people who may not have documentation of prior training, or who participated in training that would not be recognized by the college.