Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Credit for Prior Learning, our platform, and how to turn your experience into college credits.
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Showing 21 questions.
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Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) is the process for awarding college credit for validated college-level skills and knowledge gained outside of a college classroom. CPLhelps Californians turn what they've already learned- on the job, in the military, or through life- into college credit at California Community Colleges.
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The CPL Student Portal helps students identify, document, and request CPL review for their prior learning and experience, and then matches that experience with college CPL opportunities for credit.
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Whether you're a veteran with military experience, a working professional with industry certifications, someone with extensive work experience, or anyone who has gained knowledge and skills outside of traditional college settings, you may be able to earn college credit.
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The CPL Student Portal will:
- Help you build a CPL Profile to document your knowledge and expertise
- Match your expertise and skills with colleges that may offer college credit based
- Allow you to search for California Community Colleges in your area that offer college credit for your skills and expertise
- Request a CPL Review at one or more California Community Colleges
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The CPL Profile builder helps you create a record of your experience, skills, and achievements. You can do this by uploading your Joint Service Transcript (JST), any certifications or licenses you've earned, and then document work history and language skills. Profile sections are optional, therefore you only need to complete the sections that are relevant to you. You can then request a CPL review from a college.
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Sierra (Your CPL Sherpa) is an AI profile assistant that helps guide you through creating your CPL Profile. Sierra can help you write the (optional) About Me sections, and answer questions about the process.
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Our system matches your CPL Profile uploads with CPL opportunities at the California Community Colleges.
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Getting started is easy! 1)Create a free CPL Student Portal account 2) Upload supporting documents 3)Review your CPL matches 4)Request CPL Review at colleges where you had matches.
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Yes, you'll need to create a free CPL Student portal account to use most features of the platform. This allows us to save your profile, track your progress, and provide personalized CPL matches.
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Upload documents that demonstrate your skills and expertise, like Joint Service Transcripts, professional certifications, training certificates, licenses, or test scores (AP, CLEP, etc.).
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We recommend The latest version of Google Chrome (opens in a new tab).
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We take your privacy seriously. We use industry-standard security measures and comply with relevant privacy regulations. Your information is only shared with a college when you explicitly Request a CPL Review from that specific college. We attempt to redact personally identifiable information from your documents, however due to quality variations from uploaded documents, we cannot guarantee full redaction.
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Your data is used to: 1) Match your skills and expertise with relevant CPL opportunities, 2) Help colleges evaluate your CPL readiness, 3) Improve our platform services, and 4) Generate anonymized analytics. We never sell or share your personal information with third parties.
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The timeline varies by college and program. CPL can only be awarded to enrolled students, so you will need to apply to a college as the next step.
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Students and potential students can use the CPL Student Portal at no cost.
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Yes! Veterans and active military members can upload their Joint Service Transcript (JST) or CCAF transcript to see what CPL matches are available based on their military training and occupation.
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A JST is an official document that translates a service member's military training, schooling, and job experience into civilian terms so that colleges, universities, and employers can evaluate their skills. Download your JST directly from the officialDepartment of Defense (DoD) website (opens in a new tab).
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We currently accept JSTs in PDF format. Please note that while we safeguard your documents, we cannot guarantee full redaction of personally identifiable information for JSTs or other uploads. For the most accurate matching, download your Joint Services Transcript (JST) directly from the official DoD website by clicking here (opens in a new tab)
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Contact our technical support team at mailto:mapsupport@theinfotechpartners.com. We typically respond within 24-48 hours.
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Yes! Our platform is fully responsive and works on mobile devices, tablets, and computers.
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CPL offers are subject to review and may be affected by many variables such as: your academic standing, residency requirements, educational goals, transfer plans, financial aid, veteran benefit eligibility, and college requirements. Only enrolled students can earn credit for their prior learning. Please reach out to a counselor at the college where you will enroll for more information.
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