The PLA (Prior Learning Assessment) Portfolio Process
Students should:
Graduate students must apply for permission (and acquire a PLA Portfolio Approval Form) to complete a PLA Portfolio from their department and the Graduate School office.
Undergraduate students may obtain a PLA Portfolio Approval Form in the Registrar’s Office.
Pick up a PLA Handbook from the Registrar’s Office, Pope John Paul II Center, (260) 399-7700 ext 6524.
If you have questions, contact the Registrar to learn more about PLA portfolios.
* Note: You may complete a portfolio for prior learning credit only for those courses offered at USF (and graduate courses approved by the Graduate School). We have no way to evaluate the merits of learning which would be equivalent to courses that are not offered here.
Take the PLA Portfolio Approval Form to the Business Office (Trinity Hall, 434-3221) along with payment of $75 per credit hour for the course(s) that you are attempting to earn. Get a signature from the Business Office representative on your PLA Portfolio Approval Form, as well as a full-page receipt.
Take the PLA Portfolio Approval Form and your receipt back to the Registrar’s Office, who will hold it until you complete and turn in your portfolio. This form and receipt initiate the portfolio process for you.
Complete your PLA portfolio according to the directions in the PLA Handbook.
* Remember, you are trying to demonstrate that you have learned and applied at least 70% of the materials covered in the corresponding on-campus class. If in doubt, err in favor of providing too much information rather than too little.
* Do not include original documents in your portfolio. For accreditation purposes, we must keep the portfolio you give to us for evaluation in its entirety, so any documents included will not be given back.
Turn in your PLA portfolio to the Registrar’s Office, who will check it for proper formatting and completeness, then turn it over to the appropriate department for evaluation.
Wait patiently for the evaluation of your PLA portfolio to be completed. We generally ask for a month to complete this process. If the evaluation is successful, you will receive from us a written evaluation of your portfolio and a letter acknowledging that the credits you requested will be added to your official USF transcript.