Earning Credits by Taking Exams
For prior learning it is possible to earn credit if you take examinations to assess your knowledge and skills. Thereof, if you worked in the human resources department of a large organization for years, you may know a lot about human resource management. Taking and passing a college-level exam in human resource management, you can earn credits toward your online degree without taking the course or paying tuition. While some online schools have developed their own equivalency exams, most online schools accept the results of examinations taken through national programs such as those that follow.

  * College-Level Examination Program - CLEP is the best known of the national equivalency exam programs. This program is administered by the College Entrance Examination Board and recognized by 2,900 colleges and universities. A large amount of the CLEP tests are multiple-choice and some include essays. The test offer what most students take in their first two years of college. CLEP examinations are free to military service members.
* Excelsior College Examinations, formerly the Regents College Examination series, are similar to the CLEP. The series comprises about forty subject-area equivalency examinations, which are recognized by nearly 1,000 colleges and universities.
* DANTES Subject Standardized Tests are offered by Thomson Prometric and are accepted or administered at more than 1,900 colleges and universities.

Credit for Work Training
From the1974, thousands of employees have earned college credit for selected educational programs sponsored by businesses, industry, professional associations, labor unions, and government agencies. Such programs are evaluated by The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service, according to established college-level criteria and recommend college credit for those programs that measure up to these standards. Then one ACE College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE/Credit) is offered through ACE’s Center for Lifelong Learning.

Credit for Military Training
The military service specialized training and occupational experience has the potential to earn college credit. A lot of military programs have already been evaluated in terms of their equivalency to college credit. The organizations belonging to Service members Opportunity Colleges (SOC) have agreed to assess students’ prior learning and accept each other’s credits in transfer.