Prior Learning Assessment
The University of Maine at Machias awards credit to students who demonstrate learning gained outside the college classroom through the following avenues:
Credit by Exam
Credit for Military Training & Experience
Veterans of US military service may receive credit for learning gained through documented military training and experience. Applicants with SMART, AARTS or USCG transcripts should submit official copies of same. Transcripts from the Community College of the Air Force should be sent directly from CCAF to the UMM Registrar's Office for evaluation.
Credit is awarded based on the recommendations of the American Council on Education's Guide to Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services. To order copies of AARTS, SMART, USCG or CCAF transcripts, click on the appropriate link below:
- Air Force: CCAF transcript
- Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps & Navy: Joint Services Transcripts
Credential Review
When students submit the appropriate credential(s), UMM awards credit based on the recommendations in the American Council on Education’s National Guide to Educational Credit for Training Programs.
Portfolio Assessment
Students may apply for Credit for Prior Learning through the portfolio assessment process for any post-secondary experiences outside the military (see above) from which they derived significant learning experiences which are comparable in quality to the expected learning outcomes of the UMM courses in question. For more information, see UMM's Credit for Prior Learning policies and procedures below.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CLEP Exams
UMM grants credit to degree-seeking students for appropriate scores on the College Board's CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exams. Students earning the required scores on the exams indicated below will receive credit for the designated UMM courses and/or electives.
General Exams
| College Composition | 50 | 3 cr | ENG 101 | Composition |
| Humanities | 50 | 3 cr | FIA xxx | Fine Arts Elective |
| College Mathematics | 50 | 3 cr | MAT 1xx | MAT Elective |
| Natural Sciences | 50 | 3 cr | SCI xxx | SCI Elective |
| Social Sciences and History | 50 | 3 cr | SSC xxx | SSC Elective |
Subject Exams
Composition & Literature
|
College Composition |
50 |
3 cr | ENG 101 | Composition |
| Analyzing/Interpreting Literature | 50 | 3 cr | ENG 118 | Topics/Contemporary Lit |
| American Literature | 50 | 3 cr | ENG 206 | American Literature II |
| English Literature | 50 | 3 cr | ENG xxx | English Lit Elective |
Foreign Languages
| French, Level 1 | 50 | 6 cr | FRE 101 & FRE 102 | Elementary French I & Elementary French II |
| French, Level 2 | 62 | 6 cr | FRE xxx | French Electives |
| German, Level 1 | 50 | 6 cr | HUM xxx | HUM Electives |
| German, Level 2 | 63 | 6 cr | HUM xxx | HUM Electives |
| Spanish, Level 1 | 50 | 6 cr | SPA 101 & SPA 102 | Elementary Spanish I & Elementary Spanish II |
| Spanish, Level 2 | 66 | 6 cr | SPA xxx | Spanish Electives |
History & Social Sciences
| Western Civilization I | 50 | 3 cr | HTY 225 | European History I |
| Western Civilization II | 50 | 3 cr | HTY 226 | European History II |
| History of the United States I | 50 | 3 cr | HTY 103 | American History I |
| History of the United States II | 50 | 3 cr | HTY 104 | American History II |
| American Government | 50 | 3 cr | POS 215 | American National Govt |
| Sociology, Introductory | 50 | 3 cr | SOC 114 | Intro to Sociology |
| Psychology, Introductory | 50 | 3 cr | PSY 110 | Intro to Psychology |
| Educational Psychology, Intro | 50 | 3 cr | EDU 210 | Educational Psychology |
| Human Growth and Development | 50 | 3 cr | PSY 201 | Developmental Psychology |
| Macroeconomics, Priciples of | 50 | 3 cr | ECO 201 | Macroeconomics |
| Microeconomics, Principles of | 50 | 3 cr | ECO 202 | Microeconomics |
Business
| Accounting, Financial | 50 | 3 cr | ACC 201 | Financial Accounting |
| Business Law, Introductory | 50 | 3 cr | BUS 221 | Business Law I |
| Information Systems & Computer Applications | 50 | 3 cr | CSE xxx | Computer Studies Elective |
| Management, Principles of | 50 | 3 cr | MAN 301 | Management |
| Marketing, Principles of | 50 | 3 cr | MAR 101 | Marketing |
Science & Mathematics
| Biology | 50 | 4 cr | BIO 111 | General Zoology |
| Chemistry | 50 | 4 cr | CHY 101 | General Chemistry |
| College Algebra | 50 | 3 cr | MAT 102 | Intermediate Algebra |
| Precalculus | 50 | 4 cr | MAT 122 | Precalculus |
| Calculus | 50 | 4 cr | MAT 126 | Calculus I |
Advanced Placement
UMM grants credit for appropriate scores on the College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Students earning the required scores on the exams indicated below will receive credit for the designated UMM courses and/or electives once their official score reports are received from the College Board.
| AP Exam | AP Score | UMM Course | Title | Cr Hrs |
| Art - Studio Drawing Biology |
4, 5 3 |
ART 101 BIO 111 |
2-D Fundamentals of Art General Zoology |
3 4 |
| Biology | 4, 5 | BIO 111 & BIO 112 | General Zoology & General Botany | 8 |
| Calculus AB | 3,4,5 | MAT 126 | Calculus I | 4 |
| Calculus BC | 3,4,5 | MAT 126 & MAT 127 | Calculus I & II | 8 |
| Chemistry | 3 | CHY 101 | Chemistry I | 4 |
| Chemistry Computer Science A |
4,5 3,4,5 |
CHY 101 & CHY 102 CSE xxx |
Chemistry I & II Computer Studies elective |
8 3 |
| English Lang/Comp | 3 | ENG 101 | Composition | 3 |
| English Lang/Comp | 4,5 | ENG 101 & ENG xxx | Composition & ENG elective | 6 |
| English Lit/Comp | 3 | ENG 113 | Intro to Humanities | 3 |
| English Lit/Comp | 4, 5 | ENG 101 & ENG 113 | Composition & Intro/Humanities | 6 |
| European History | 3,4,5 | HTY 226 | European History II | 3 |
| Environmental Science | 3,4,5 | ENV 112 | Environmental Issues | 3 |
| Govt & Polit, US Govt & Polit, Comp Human Geography |
3,4,5 3,4,5 3,4,5 |
POS 215 POS xxx GEO 101 |
American National Govt Political Science elective Intro to Geography |
3 |
| Macroeconomics Microeconomics Spanish Language |
3,4,5 |
ECO 201 ECO 202 SPA 101 |
Macroeconomics Microeconomics Elementary Spanish I |
3 3 3 |
| Spanish Language | 4, 5 | SPA 101& SPA 102 | Elem Spanish I & II | 6 |
| Physics B | 3 | PHY 111 | General Physics I | 4 |
| Physics B Physics C: Mechanics |
4,5 3,4,5 |
PHY 111 & PHY 112 PHY 111 |
General Physics I & II General Physics I |
8 4 |
| Psychology | 3,4,5 | PSY 110 | Psychology | 3 |
| Statistics | 3,4,5 | MAT 215 | Applied Statistics | 4 |
| US History | 3,4,5 | HTY 103 & HTY 104 | American History I & II | 6 |
| World History | 3 | HTY 115 | World History I | 3 |
| World History | 4,5 | HTY 115 & HTY 116 | World History I & II | 6 |
NYU Foreign Language Exams
The University of Southern Maine offers an array of foreign language proficiency exams developed by New York University. Students matriculated at the University of Maine at Machias may register for the exams for the cost specified by the USM Office of Prior Learning Assessment and ask that their scores be sent directly to the Registrar's Office at the University of Maine at Machias. Students seeking foreign language elective credit at UMM should take the Intermediate-level exam in the specified language (two-hour exam). The exam will test listening, reading and writing skills in the chosen language.
NYU language proficiency exams are available in the following languages:
|
Afrikaans |
Greek (Modern) |
Persian |
|
Albanian |
Gujarati |
Polish |
|
Arabic |
Haitian Creole |
Portuguese |
|
Armenian |
Hebrew |
Punjabi |
|
Bengali |
Hindi |
Romanian |
|
Bosnian |
Hungarian |
Russian |
|
Bulgarian |
Ibo |
Serbian |
|
Catalan |
Icelandic |
Spanish |
|
Chinese-Cantonese |
Indonesian |
Swahili |
|
Chinese-Mandarin |
Irish (Gaelic) |
Swedish |
|
Croatian |
Italian |
Tagalog |
|
Czech |
Japanese |
Thai |
|
Danish |
Korean |
Turkish |
|
Dutch |
Latin |
Ukrainian |
|
Finnish |
Lithuanian |
Urdu |
|
French |
Malay |
Vietnamese |
|
German |
Norwegian |
Yiddish |
Intermediate-level exams are worth a total of 12 points. Students scoring from 5 to 7 points will earn 3 credits of Foreign Language elective (FOL xxx). Students scoring from 8 to 12 points will earn 6 credits of Foreign Language elective (FOL xxx). Exams are scored off-site and take 6-8 weeks to be returned to the University of Southern Maine. Credit will be posted to the student's UMM record only when the official scores are received directly from the University of Southern Maine's Office of Prior Learning Assessment.
Students should contact USM's Office of Prior Learning Assessment (http://usm.maine.edu/pla/pla-language or 780.4663) for more information about exam logistics.
Credit for Prior Learning
Who may apply for Credit for Prior Learning?
Only students who are matriculated in UMM degree programs may apply for Credit for Prior Learning.
For what courses may a student receive Credit for Prior Learning?
Students may apply for Credit for Prior Learning for all established UMM courses listed in the current UMM catalog with the exception of EDU 490 Student Teaching.* Students may not use the Credit for Prior Learning process to apply for credit which is not defined by UMM course objectives.
Students may not earn Credit for Prior Learning for any course for which they have previously been graded at a regionally accredited institution. Learning experiences and/or documentation based on experiences gained in other college courses for which credit has already been received may not be used to support Credit for Prior Learning applications.
What kind of experiences will be considered for credit? What kinds will not?
Students may apply for Credit for Prior Learning for any post-secondary experiences outside the military** from which they derived significant learning experiences which are comparable in quality to the expected learning outcomes of the UMM courses in question.
Credit will not be awarded for experiences which are part of any elementary or high school curriculum or extra-curricular activity. Students who participate in plays sponsored by UMM theatre faculty, but who do not register for THE 116 Play Production, may not apply for Credit for Prior Learning. In order to receive credit for their experience, they must register retroactively for the course in question, pay for all tuition credit and be graded by the instructor of record.
Is there a maximum number of credits which may be earned through the Credit for Prior Learning Process?
There is no limit to the number of credits which may be earned through the Credit for Prior Learning process.
Will credit earned through the Credit for Prior Learning process count toward the UMM residency requirement?
Credit earned through the Credit for Prior Learning process is posted as transfer credit on the UMM transcript and will NOT count toward the UMM residency requirement.
What is the cost of applying for Credit for Prior Learning?
There is a $25 per credit hour charge to apply for Credit for Prior Learning. This fee will be assessed before any Credit for Prior Learning is posted to the student's transcript.
Will Credit for Prior Learning transfer to other colleges?
Credit for Prior Learning is evaluated differently at all schools. It will NOT automatically transfer to other schools and colleges. Students should review the Credit for Prior Learning policies at the schools in question. If the school awards Credit for Prior Learning, it is likely that a new portfolio will need to be submitted and evaluated according to that school's established procedures.
How will my Credit for Prior Learning application be evaluated?
Your application for Credit for Prior Learning must be submitted to the Registrar's Office. The Registrar will review the application for completeness and for compliance with the above-mentioned guidelines, then forward copies of the application to a committee of at least three faculty who teach in the relevant subject area. The faculty committee will review the application and meet to discuss the merits of the proposal. Faculty may also choose to arrange an interview with the applicant to discuss the details of the proposal.
Once the committee has reviewed the proposal, they will forward their decision to the Division Chair, who will return the packet to the Registrar. The committee can decide to accept the proposal as is, make suggestions for improving the application or vote to deny the application. If the application is accepted, the Registrar will post any approved credit to the student's transcript. If the application is rejected or suggestions are made for improvement, the Registrar will return the packet to the student, along with a copy of the faculty committee's evaluation sheet, including their suggestions for improvement or reasons for the rejection of the application.
Are there other ways to earn credit or meet degree requirements outside the Credit for Prior Learning process?
Students may earn credit for selected courses through the College Board's CLEP examination program. Students must earn specific minimum scores in order to be eligible for the credit indicated (see attached schedule).
Challenge exams are available for some courses (i.e. ACC 201, ENG 101, SES 102, SES 103). Students who successfully complete a Challenge exam will not earn credit for the course in question, but an appropriate transcript note will be made, noting that the student has successfully met degree requirements in that area.
* This exclusion is related to the Maine State Teacher Certification requirments.
** Veterans of military service should refer to the section on Credit for Military Training & Experience under Veterans Services.
Credit for Prior Learning Outline
