Today, on the average college campus, about two out of five students are combining their studies with working at full-time jobs, caring for young children, and carrying on other family and community responsibilities. More than one-third of college students today are age 25 or older. In community colleges, the average age of students is 38. And on most campuses, working adults predominate in evening and weekend classes. Working adults who are returning to a learning environment often possess skills and knowledge gained through life experiences.
Adults learn on the job, in military service, and through hobbies, friends, television or books.
Colleges have come to respect the kinds of learning that adults acquire on their own and award college credit for this learning when it proves to be similar to what is taught in the classroom. PLA is a process of defining, documenting, measuring, evaluating and granting credit for learning acquired through experience. Over twenty years ago, CAEL took the lead in articulating the philosophical basis for PLA as well as developing a set of policies and procedures for carrying it out in an academically sound manner. CAEL helps employers and their employees to prepare for assessment of their non-collegiate learning by providing information on portfolio development, directing individuals to appropriate education institutions, and preparing them for a formal meeting with faculty at those institutions. CAEL also publishes a number of books on prior learning assessment.