Building a National Approach to Recognizing What Learners Already Know

What would change if learning were recognized for where it happens and not simply where it was acquired?

The Center for Academic Innovation is proud to join AACRAO, the American Council on Education (ACE), CAEL, the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), and UPCEA in launching the National Leadership Roundtable on the Recognition of Learning, with support from Strada Education Foundation.

For millions of adults, meaningful learning happens across a lifetime: through employment, military service, professional training, community leadership, and other experiences outside the traditional classroom. Yet the ways colleges and universities recognize that learning can vary significantly from one institution to another.

That inconsistency matters.

When prior learning is recognized thoughtfully and applied meaningfully toward a credential, learners can avoid repeating what they already know, reduce unnecessary time and cost, and see a clearer connection between the experience they bring with them and the education they are pursuing.

The National Leadership Roundtable brings together six national organizations to advance greater alignment around Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) and the broader recognition of learning.

At CAI, we believe this work is ultimately about building educational systems that recognize the knowledge, skills, and capabilities learners have already developed—and creating pathways that allow them to build from there.

We are excited to contribute to this national conversation and to the work ahead.

Read the full announcement to learn more.