Credential Evaluation
Credential Evaluation by Charter Oak State College is a way of gaining credit for
previously completed certifications or licenses issued by state, national or professional
organizations. Qualified faculty evaluators review examination prerequisites, standards
for passing the exam, and the subject matter, depth, breadth, and academic rigor of
the licensing or certification examination to determine whether the knowledge tested
is equivalent to college-level learning. Students must be able to supply sufficient
information about the content of the examination in order to request evaluation. Certificates
of attendance, non-credit courses offered by regionally accredited institutions, and
multi-course programs are not eligible for evaluation.
Licenses or certificates submitted for evaluation must meet the following three criteria:
- They must be issued by a state, national or professional organization
- They must be obtained through a single qualification exam
- They must not have been evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE), National
Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction (PONSI) or the Connecticut Credit Assessment
program (CCAP).
Assessment is conducted by a member of the Charter Oak faculty or a specialist in
the field with knowledge of higher education processes and requirements who has been
recommended by faculty. The faculty assessor does the following:
- Reviews the documentation and evaluates the materials for range, depth and quality
to determine whether the knowledge acquired justifies an award of college credit;
- Recommends award of credit, identifying by course name, number of semester hours,
and level of credit; OR denies credit, giving reasons; OR
- Requests further information if documentation demonstrates that there is potential
for an award of credit pending receipt of additional data.
Is Credential Evaluation a good option for you?
Are you:
- Enrolled as a degree student (matriculated) at Charter Oak State College?
- Earning a degree at another institution?
- Not a degree student but need credit on a transcript for other purposes?
Matriculated Charter Oak State College students may request credit for credentials that have evaluations currently in force (i.e.,
that are within 5 years of a previous review); may request reviews of credentials
that have not previously been evaluated; or may request re-evaluation of credentials
with out-of-date previous reviews. Students must receive prior approval from the Assessment
Coordinator before submitting an application for a Credential Evaluation and must
be able to supply all required documentation. For more information, a fee schedule,
or an application form, contact the Assessment Coordinator at (860) 515-3846 or by
e-mailing mlegrow@charteroak.edu
Non-matriculated students who wish to claim credit for credentials with evaluations currently in force (i.e.,
within 5 years of a previous review) may establish a Credit Registry and obtain a Charter Oak transcript. Requests for new or re-evaluations will not be accepted from external students: they may take advantage of previous evaluations
that are still in effect but not request to initiate new ones or update old reviews.
Some important points to consider if you are thinking of applying for Credential Evaluation:
- Credentials submitted for assessment must be based on some form of testing or other
assessment.
- Certificates of attendance do not qualify for evaluation
- Evaluations of new or lapsed credentials are performed only for currently matriculated
COSC students.
- Non-credit courses offered by regionally accredited institutions and multi-course
programs are not eligible for Credential Evaluation.
- Charter Oak does not review programs or certificates administered by regionally accredited
educational institutions.
- Credit awarded is based on equivalency between college course content and the knowledge
assessed on the certification or licensure exam.
- Your experience is not factored into the assessment, because we look at the exam only,
not at the training you’ve had. Be aware that your experience may cover a wider range
of knowledge than does the exam, but that the credit recommendation will be only for
the content covered by the exam.
- Course equivalencies are determined by the reviewer and can’t be specified by the
student. If you require credit for a particular course or courses, then Portfolio
Assessment may be a better fit for your needs.
- If you already have credit in the subject area of the exam, there is a risk that credit
awarded through this process may duplicate some credit already on your transcript.
This is something that you should discuss with your Academic Advisor before requesting
a Credential Evaluation.
- Charter Oak does not base credit awards on credit that may be offered for the license
or certification by other educational institutions.
- Students must receive prior approval to submit materials for Credential Evaluation
and must supply all required documentation.
