Many adult students with a rich experience of work and training may not be aware that they may obtain college credit for knowledge they have gained over the years. Students may receive up to 15 credit hours for non-traditional education from any combination of the following sources: military training, correspondence courses, extension courses, post-secondary proprietary institutions including business colleges, P.O.S.T. (Peace Officers Standard Training) certificate training, and other recognized sources.

Students must themselves take the initiative of compiling documents to be used in petitioning for credit. Such documents may include training, certificates, certificates of completion, licenses, resumes, job descriptions, work evaluations, length and content of training, and letters of verification from employers.

A GBC faculty member in the appropriate discipline and the Academic Standards Committee of Faculty Senate will assess prior learning. The recommendation will then be voted on by the full Faculty Senate. Non-traditional forms of learning must be shown to be worthy of college credit. Learning which is certified by GBC for credit must be equivalent to the classroom experience.

Judgments used by the faculty committee on non-traditional learning will vary greatly from discipline to discipline. Certain common denominators, however, will guide the assessment: the quality, the authenticity, the appropriateness, and the breadth of learning.

Non-traditional education credit can only be applied toward an Associate of Applied Science, an Associate of General Studies, or a Certificate of Achievement. The student must have at least 15 semester credits at GBC before non-traditional credit is considered.

Download and print a petition.* Instruction regarding your non-traditional education is available from Admissions and Records, Berg Hall, 775.753.2273.

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