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Virginia’s Community Colleges have launched an expanded version of the organization’s Credits2Careers portal, allowing more adult learners to be aware they may be eligible for college credit based on their prior learning and experience.

Before the expansion, the Credits2Career portal only served individuals with military experience, translating their service into college credits.

The expansion of the portal, which includes statewide curriculum crosswalking, is made possible due to a generous grant from the Lumina Foundation as part of its All Learning Counts Initiative. In 2019, the Foundation awarded $3.5 million in grants to nine organizations across the nation committed to building clearer pathways to degrees and other credentials for adults.

Virginia’s Community Colleges was one of the nine recipients, and the only recipient from Virginia.

“Learning can take place in all kinds of settings, especially today, as many individuals have hybrid work models allowing for increased flexibility,” said Randall Stamper, assistant vice chancellor for grants and workforce programs at the community college system. “Whether it’s in the military, on the job or in an exam, Virginians deserve to be credited for their learning, even the learning taking place outside of a classroom.”

The grant has enabled Virginia’s Community Colleges to correlate military training, professional development, workforce and career certifications to courses within its course catalog, allowing all adult learners to jumpstart their paths to a college degree by earning college credit for certain life experiences without having to start the education process at ground zero.

Credits2Careers and the All Learning Counts initiative aim to make the path to a degree more easily obtained. By validating experiences and learning out of the classroom, adult learners will get their degree faster and for less out of pocket, removing barriers for individuals to seek out and complete a postsecondary education.

“Applying and enrolling in school can be daunting, especially for adults juggling a family and a job, but the launch of the new Credits2Careers portal makes it easier to see how many credits an individual has and what they need to show to cash them in,” said Jenny Carter, director of workforce partnerships and projects. “We’re grateful to the Lumina Foundation for helping make this effort a reality, and we’re even more grateful that Virginia adult learners are one step closer to accessible education.”

Individuals looking to explore the Credits to Careers portal can create an account at Credits2Careers.org.