People who take continuing education (CE) courses to maintain their professional licenses and credentials often wonder if they can convert those courses into college credit. While your CE classes may be held on a university campus and taught by a professor, they typically are not considered college courses and, thus, won't enhance your school transcript in the traditional way. However, here are a few ways you could convert CE credits into college credit.
Get Credit for Life Experience
Many colleges and universities recognize students learn a lot from living and working in the real world, and much of the knowledge they accumulate is the same as what they would learn in a classroom setting. Thus, it's fairly common for schools to offer a way for people to convert their life experience into college credits. So, even though continuing education courses can't be directly converted into college credit, you can include them on your school portfolio to help you earn credits through the school's work/life program.
Typically, this involves putting together a portfolio detailing the knowledge and experiences you've acquired over the years. The school will then review the portfolio and award credits for classes that match your background. For instance, if you take sonographer continuing education courses to maintain a sonography license, the school may award the relevant credits for a sonography degree.
Be aware that these schools limit the number of credits you can earn this way, but it's still an excellent option for converting your CEs into usable college credits.
Look for a Specialty School
Although most schools don't convert continuing education courses into college credit, there are few that do. There are a couple of ways these schools handle this particular situation. Either they will award credit directly (or based on a similar course in their catalog) or they will convert the continuing education hours into college credit hours.
For example, if you take a professional refresher in echocardiography, the school may use that to give you credit for a similar class it offers. Alternatively, the school may convert the credits based on the contact hours. One continuing education unit is equivalent to 10 contact hours. However, one college semester hour is equal to 15 to 16 contact hours, which would earn you approximately three-fourths of a college credit per continuing education unit you earn. How the credits are applied to your degree vary depending on the school.
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of schools that do this, but it's possible to find the ones that do by conducting a search on the internet. You can also ask a continuing education counselor for recommendations.
Challenge College Courses
An indirect way to convert your continuing education classes into college credit is to use the information you obtain from the experience to challenge college courses. This involves taking a test to prove you already know the material taught in the class. If you pass the test, you are awarded the credits and you don't actually have to attend the lessons or do any of the work.
However, you still have to pay the tuition for the course, though it may be at a reduced rate since you're not actually attending the class. Additionally, the school may limit the number of classes you can challenge. It's essential you consult with your academic counselor for more information on how you can make the most of this option in your quest to turn your continuing education credits into college credits.
For more information about this particular issue or to discuss other concerns you may have about continuing education credits, contact an education advisor.