Life Work: Get credit for what you already know.

Learning happens every day.  Through work experience, travel, workshop/conference participation, volunteer work, in-service training, adult or continuing education, recreational activities or hobbies, and involvement in professional organizations.  Marist appreciates that learning can happen in these non-traditional ways.  In recognition of the value of these experiences, Marist provides students with several opportunities to receive undergraduate credit for the knowledge gained through these unique learning experiences.

This learning can be evaluated for credit in a number of ways including:

• Course Match / Portfolio Review
• Professional Certifications
• Military Training
• Credit by Examination 

Why Consider Life Work Credit? 

Earning college credit through prior learning can help you:

• Save Time. Shorten your time to degree completion. 
• Save Money. Less time to degree can mean lower tuition costs
• Accelerate Academic Progress. Take higher level courses sooner than you otherwise would.
• Develop Your Resumé. Demonstrate to employers that your prior learning adds value to your skill set.
• Gain Understanding. Apply life learning to classroom theory.

Life Work Standards:

• Life Work credits may be awarded at both the upper and lower levels.
• Any credit granted for prior learning is considered transfer credit and will appear as such on your transcript in accordance with Marist transfer credit policy. 
• Life Work Credit is not transferrable from Marist to another institution. 
• Life Work Credit may fulfill major, core, or elective requirements as dictated by the student's degree requirements.    
• Students may earn a limited number of credits towards their degree through course match or portfolio review.
• Military training and professional certifications will not count toward the latin honors eligibilty (cum laude, etc.)
• Credits cannot be earned twice for the same course title.    

Eligibilty:

In order to be eligible to petition for a Course Match or Portfolio Review you must have the following: 

• Currently enrolled as a matriculated student at Marist
• Satisfied the requirements for ENG120L: Writing for College
• Be in good academic standing at the College (Earned a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 for courses taken to date and are not on academic probation.)

Fee Structure:

For course match credit:

• 1 and 2 credits: $200
• 3 credits: $300
• 4 credits: $400

For portfolio review:

• 3 credits: $400

Professional certifications, military training, and credit-by-examination:

Marist does not assess fees to review and post these credits, however costs may be incurred by the organizations facilitating these credits.

Payment Process:

• Payment must be made before documents are submitted for review. 
• Make payment through the my.Marist.edu online portal via the "student financial services" tab following the prompts under "student billing".  
• Submit proof of payment to professionalprograms@marist.edu (please label the email subject line "Prior Learning Payment").

 ** Please note that life work credits do not count as part of a student's full- or part-time status for the purposes of FAFSA.  In some cases surplus financial aid can be used to pay for these credits. For eligibilty contact the Office of Student Financial Services. 

Further Questions?

Visit our FAQs page. 

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Login in to your my.Marist.edu portal details and directions on submitting life work.