1. Home
  2. Admissions
  3. Prior Learning Credit

Utilize Your Prior Learning Experiences

Accelerate Your Education at AIU®

Put your past work experience or knowledge to good use. AIU Accelerate options can help you save time and money on your degree.i

Transform Your Experience into College Credit

Get a head start on your educational goals using your past experience! AIU Accelerate offers the opportunity for students to take fewer classes and potentially graduate sooner. Earn college credit at AIU for your eligible:

AIU Accelerate
  • Professional or work experience, including industry trainings and evaluated non-college programs
  • Professional or industry certifications
  • Standardized tests, like AP, CLEP, DSST and Excelsior
  • Individualized assessments, including portfolios or experiential essays
  • AIU challenge exam scores to test out of courses

Maximize your knowledge and potential! Apply your experience and earn credit towards your degree at AIU.

Professional Experience Portfolio

Your on-the-job experience matters. Submit a portfolio of your work experience, and the AIU Academic Evaluation Team can help determine if your professional knowledge is similar to what you would learn in a comparable AIU course.

To receive credit for professional experience, your work portfolio must:

  • Be verifiable and documented
  • Relate specifically to the objectives of a course taught at AIU
  • Demonstrate your mastery of specific learning outcomes of a course at AIU

Credit for Law Enforcement Training

Graduates of a law enforcement training academy may earn 36 credits toward a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Learn more.

Test Out of Courses with Challenge Exams

Pass AIU challenge exams to demonstrate your knowledge and earn credit toward your degree. You could potentially take fewer classes and shorten time to graduation. Talk to an advisor about available challenge exams.

Pass Standardized Tests

AIU also offers opportunities to take advantage of pre-college courses or standardized testing, such as Advanced Placement (AP) courses, CLEP exams, or DSSTs. Learn more about these exams and other accepted certifications below.

Advanced Placement (AP) Courses

AP courses offered through eligible high school or pre-college programs can save you time and money. To qualify, you’ll need to:

  • Earn a score of 3 or higher on the standardized AP examination related to your AP course
  • Submit a copy of an official AP examination score report to the University Registrar

AIU’s Academic Evaluation Team will evaluate your scores. AIU awards college credits based on recommendations from the American Council on Education (ACE).

College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)

CLEP is a nationally-recognized test designed to see how your prior academic and professional experience translate into college credit. To take a CLEP test and receive credit, you must:

  • Work with the Academic Evaluation Team to decide which CLEP tests work best with your degree plan
  • Find a CLEP testing center near you
  • Take your CLEP test
  • Submit an official CLEP score report or have one mailed to the University Registrar

DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSSTs)

Like CLEP tests, DSST examinations offer a way to measure your experiential education. To take a DSST exam and receive credit toward your degree, you can work with the Academic Evaluation Team to determine which exams to consider based on your degree plan. You can also submit past DSST results by having them sent directly to the University Registrar.

How Do Standardized Test Results Translate to College Grades?

For Advanced Placement (AP) courses, CLEP exams, or DSSTs, if you’re eligible for credit, a grade of "PR" will appear on your transcripts. Contact the AIU Academic Evaluation Team for more information.

Shorten Your Time to Graduation

With AIU Accelerate, you can ensure your prior experience and knowledge are considered when pursuing your education. Have your hard work acknowledged and earn degree credit, so you can potentially take fewer classes and accelerate your degree!

i Prior Learning, including transfer credits are evaluated on an individual basis. Not all credits are eligible to transfer. See the University Catalog on transfer credit policies.

Take the next step. Classes Start March 3, 2021

Complete this form and an AIU Admissions Advisor will contact you and provide further assistance.

* Please correct the following errors:

By clicking the button below you agree to be contacted by AIU about education services (including through automated and/or pre-recorded means, e.g. dialing and text messaging) via telephone, mobile device (including SMS and MMS), and/or email, even if your telephone number or email address is on a corporate, state or the National Do Not Call Registry, and you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You understand that your consent is not required as a condition to purchase a good or service.

Classes Start March 3, 2021