Many people have heard it is possible to get a degree based on life experience. From the nineteen-year-old computer geek, to mothers returning to the work force, to middle-aged workers with twenty years on the job, no one wants to waste time taking courses covering familiar subjects. Is life experience credit real or a way for distance learning programs to lure in unsuspecting students?

The Myth of Life Experience:

There are a few organizations out there promising degrees based on your work history. If you send them a resume and a check, they offer anything up to a PhD.

No legitimate, accredited distance learning program gives a degree based on a resume. Credentials from this kind of diploma mill are worth little more than the paper they are printed on. However there are legitimate ways of getting credit for genuine and verifiable life experience.

The Reality of Life Experience:

First of all, it is extremely unlikely that anyone can get a degree based on life experience. A person who has worked in a field for many years has strong skills in certain areas, but won't have as broad a skill set as someone with a degree.

However it is not uncommon for people to get course credits and reduce the number of classes required for graduation. This concept is not new to the internet. Even before the distance learning craze took off, most universities offered humanities credits to students experienced in areas such as foreign languages. Someone who grew up in a bilingual household or in a foreign country could take a language proficiency test and get credit as though they had taken several hours of language courses.

Life experience credit took on a new dimension during the rise of the personal computer. Countless people grew up with early PCs, acquiring computer skills on a level beyond what university graduates were learning. For them, taking college computer classes was like forcing other students to repeat elementary school. Universities came up with ways to offer these students ways of testing out of course requirements and easing their way to degrees.

As more homes gained access to the internet, distance learning programs offered a new, non-traditional way for people to translate their experiences in a host of fields into course credit.

Proving Verifiable Experience:

Resumes are really not useful for determining life experience credit; in fact, most distance learning programs don't even look at them. Instead, the student must provide proof of skill mastery. This could include work samples, continuing education credits, or certifications. These materials are evaluated and appropriate credits are assigned.

Although life experience probably won't get you a degree, it can provide dozens of credits and shave months or years off of your time at college.