Work Experience Now Earns College Credit in Washington

Adults who left college without a degree can apply job skills toward stackable certificates and a degree at Central Washington University.

Updated on Nov. 14, 2026 in Adult Education

Work Experience Now Earns College Credit in Washington

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Would you consider finishing a college degree using your work experience?

Central Washington University has launched an adult learning program that converts workforce experience into college credit through the Academic Credit for Prior Learning (ACPL) initiative. The first phase covers five academic programs, with stackable certificates offered in areas such as IT management and project management.

Why it matters

The program targets the large group of Washingtonians who attended college years ago without finishing a degree, giving them a path to count skills gained on the job toward a credential. It reflects a broader view that college-level learning can happen outside a classroom and that people want credit for that knowledge.

Phase one includes IT Management, Emergency Medical Services, Aviation Management, Risk Management, and Occupational Safety and Health Management. Several programs, including IT management, project management and risk management, will offer stackable certificates that can be taken one at a time and later combined into a degree.

The players

Central Washington University

A public university in Washington State that is launching the adult learning program and offering stackable certificates to working adults.

Dr. Liz Fountain

Senior Lecturer and IT department co-chair at Central Washington University, involved in the IT management program.

Sathy Rajendran

Dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at Central Washington University, overseeing the program's academic home.

The details

Workforce experience is translated into college credit through the ACPL initiative, which assesses what a learner already knows from their job and maps it to academic credit. Career-oriented micro credentials can be completed one at a time and then stacked together toward a degree program. Phase one launches with the five named academic programs, and the university has described the effort as a way to bring prior learning into its degree pathways.

Phase one of the program launched in November 2026, with five academic programs participating.

Education Landscape

Prior learning credit initiatives like ACPL let adult learners apply workplace skills toward a degree, a response to the millions of people who left college before finishing. This program places Central Washington's effort within a wider push to recognize learning that happens outside traditional classrooms.

If you have some college credits but no degree, or have built skills through work, ask the admissions or adult learning office at your school whether prior learning can be converted into credit. Stackable certificates let you take programs one at a time, which may fit around a job and family schedule.

The takeaway

Learning gained through work can now count toward a college degree in Washington, which may help adults who left school short of graduation. Ask the admissions or adult learning office whether your job experience can be assessed for credit before you enroll anywhere else.