What is a life experience portfolio?
A life experience portfolio is a formal written communication, presented by you to our university, requesting credit for extra-institutional learning.

Who may submit a life experience portfolio?
Any enrolled Baker University undergraduate business student may submit a life experience portfolio prior to completing their respective degree program requirements. You may submit the College Level Learning Essays section of the portfolio after you have completed our Prior Learning and Writing Development course (BBA/BSM 310).

What is the Prior Learning and Writing Development (BBA/BSM 310) course and how does it relate to portfolios?
This course fulfills the upper division (junior/senior) level writing requirement for BBA and BSM students. A portion of the course requirement is to write a College Level Learning Essay that relates to a particular life experience. This essay may be submitted in your portfolio to the PLA Center for evaluation. Three semester hours of credit are awarded upon successful completion of the course. Additional credits may be awarded for your portfolio submission. You may submit College Level Learning Essays for evaluation after completing BBA/BSM 310.

What is “Documented Learning”?
Documented Learning is a portfolio category that consists of business and professional courses, seminars and other institutionally sponsored course work. We use documented learning to validate professional competency for learning gained outside the traditional college classroom. The four subcategories of Documented Learning are:
• Professional Courses
• Nationally/Professionally Accredited Colleges and Schools
• Licenses
• Standardized Credits.
As an undergraduate student, you may submit a Documented Learning Portfolio at any time before you complete your degree program. We do require that you attend a Documented Learning Workshop or schedule a meeting with the PLA Center staff prior to starting work on your portfolio. Documented Learning Workshops are offered periodically in Lee’s Summit, Overland Park, Topeka and Wichita. Please contact the PLA Center for dates and times.

What are “Professional Courses”?
We use this category of Documented Learning to document professional and business courses, seminars and training for potential college credit.

What are “Nationally/Professionally Accredited” Schools?
This category is used to define courses taken at professionally or nationally accredited colleges and schools that are not regionally accredited. You may only submit courses not accepted in transfer because of the accreditation status of the institution where the credits were earned.

What are “Licenses”?
This category is used to document licenses earned through an examination for potential college credit. For example, you may submit Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Securities, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Insurance, and/or Real Estate licenses in this section of your portfolio.
If you completed coursework for a license, but did not actually receive the license, you may petition for credit under the Professional Courses category.

What are “Standardized Credits”?
This category includes corporate training courses that are evaluated by either the American Council on Education (ACE) or the Program for NonCollegiate Sponsored Instruction (PONSI). Official transcripts are required to document this type of training. Historically, we have seen standardized credits from many companies.

What is a “College Level Learning Essay”?
During the Prior Learning and Development course, you will write a College Level Learning Essay. In addition to satisfying the course requirements, the essay may be submitted as part of your portfolio to be evaluated for additional credit. You will apply Kolb’s Model of Experiential Learning to your experience by using a college course description for the framework of your essay. Your instructor will guide you through the process of writing the essay.

How much does a life experience portfolio cost?
Our students find that submitting portfolios for credit is an economical way to accelerate their degree completion. Our fees include:
• Submission Fee: $100.00, discounted 20% if portfolio is submitted by specified date. You pay this fee once; there is no charge for additional portfolio submissions. You will be billed only for credits that are awarded.
• Cost of any credits awarded is:
Professional Courses - $60.00 per credit hour
Nationally/Professionally Accredited Schools - $60.00 per credit hour
Licenses - $60.00 per credit hour
Standardized Credits: $30.00 per credit hour
College Level Learning Essays: $80.00 per credit hour
You will be billed for credits awarded after we complete your portfolio evaluation.

Who will evaluate my portfolio?
A faculty member who has credentials (education and experience) in the discipline(s) of your portfolio submission will assess the suitability of your portfolio for college credit. For example, if you submit an essay about marriage and the family, a faculty member who has an academic degree and teaches in that discipline will evaluate your essay.

How long does it take to complete a portfolio evaluation?
The time it takes to evaluate your portfolio varies on how much material is in your portfolio, whether or not a particular evaluator is available at a particular time, and whether or not your portfolio needs to be sent to several evaluators. We make every effort to complete your evaluation as quickly as possible. You can expedite the process by ensuring that your portfolio is complete and meets the administrative standards for submission.

What are the deadlines for portfolio submissions?
If you need portfolio credits to complete your degree, the following deadlines apply. For spring commencement, we must receive your portfolio by March 1st. Should you need portfolio credits for fall commencement, we must have your portfolio by October 1st. During the period prior to commencement, we receive significantly more portfolios; therefore we need time to complete your evaluation in order to have your credits posted in time for you to receive your diploma.

What forms do I need for my portfolio and where do I find them?
You may find all the necessary portfolio forms on-line at this location.  Our on-line forms cannot be saved; please print a copy of your completed form(s) before closing the document.