Credit for Prior Learning

Earn Course Credit for Learning Outside a Classroom!

young woman at desk with laptop

smiling young man in military fatigues

Many students have gained important knowledge and skills through training outside the classroom, such as

  • Military training
  • Training from a job, employer or union
  • State or federal government programs
  • Apprenticeships and other experience-based learning

If you have this kind of training, you may be eligible for college credit that you would otherwise earn by taking a particular course at De Anza College. We call this Credit for Prior Learning (CPL). This webpage will explain how to obtain CPL.

Important Note

We strongly recommend that you speak with a counselor before requesting credit for prior learning, to make sure you understand how this may affect your educational plans and goals. For example, once you are granted credit for a particular class, you will not be allowed to repeat it. Credit for prior learning may also count against certain limits in your financial aid.

Information for Faculty Members


Courses Approved for CPL

Courses Eligible for Credit by Exam

The following courses are eligible for credit by exam. Please check back for instructions – coming soon!

  • Accounting: 
    • ACCT 1A
    • ACCT 1AH
  • Administration of Justice:
    • ADMJ 1
    • ADMJ 95
  • Art: ARTS 53
  • Automotive Technology:
    • AUTO 50A and 50B
    • AUTO 51A and 51B – must pass A and B classes to receive credit
  • Computer Science and Information Systems:
    • CIS 2
    • CIS 31
    • CIS 50
    • CIS 66
    • CIS 67A
    • CIS 67B
    • CIS 74
    • CIS 75A
    • CIS classes that have lab hours are not challengeable
  • Design and Manufacturing Technologies: DMT 80
  • Film/Television: F/TV 20
  • Health Technologies:
    • HTEC 50
    • HTEC 60A
    • HTEC 73
  • Journalism: JOUR 61A
  • Languages: none
  • Nursing: NURS 50
  • Paralegal Studies:
    • PARA 94
    • PARA 95
  • Physical Sciences, Math and Engineering: none
  • Political Science:
    • POLI 10
    • POLI 95
    • A special no-credit challenge exam is available to meet the California State/Local Government portion of the CSU United States History, Constitution and American Ideals requirement

Courses Eligible for Credit by Industry Certification

De Anza currently offers credit for industry certification in two subject areas:


Automotive Technology

Credit is available for ASE certifications listed here. (See below for how to obtain your ASE status letter.)

  • AUTO 50A: current ASE G1 certificate required
  • AUTO 50B: current ASE G1 certificate required
  • AUTO 60: current ASE A6 certificate required
  • AUTO 60C: current ASE A8 certificate required
  • AUTO 60D: current ASE L1 certificate required
  • AUTO 60E: current ASE L1 certificate required
  • AUTO 61A: current ASE A5 certificate required
  • AUTO 61B: current ASE A5 certificate required
  • AUTO 62A: current ASE A4 certificate required
  • AUTO 62B: current ASE L4 certificate required
  • AUTO 63: current ASE A2 certificate required
  • AUTO 63A: current ASE A3 certificate required
  • AUTO 64: current ASE A1 certificate required
  • AUTO 66: current ASE A7 certificate required
  • AUTO 67A: current ASE L3 certificate required
  • AUTO 67B: current ASE L3 certificate required
  • AUTO 67J: current ASE A9 certificate required


Computer Science and Information Systems

If a course below has more than one certificate listed, either one will be sufficient:

  • CIS 64B: Oracle Database SQL Exam
  • CIS 64C: Oracle Database PL/SQL Exam
  • CIS 64E:
    • Amazon Web Services Certified Cloud Practitioner
    • Amazon Web Services Certified Systems Operations Administrator
    • CompTIA Cloud+
  • CIS 67A:
    • Credit by exam (see previous section)
    • Cisco Certified Network Associate
    • Cisco Certified Network Associate Wireless
    • CompTIA Network+
  • CIS 69A:
    • CompTIA A+
    • CompTIA ITF+
    • CompTIA Tech+
  • CIS 69B:
    • CompTIA CySA+
    • CompTIA Linux+
  • CIS 69E: CompTIA A+
  • CIS 95B: CompTIA Project+
  • CIS 95C: PMI Risk Management Professional
  • CIS 95E:
    • PMI Certified Associate in Project Management
    • PMI Project Management Professional
  • CIS 95F:
    • CompTIA Cloud+
    • CompTIA Cloud Essentials+
    • Amazon Web Services Certified Systems Operations Administrator
  • CIS 95G: PMI Agile Certified Practitioner
  • CIS 95H: PMI Professional in Business Analysis
  • CIS 95K: PMI Program Management Professional
  • CIS 95L: PMI Portfolio Management Professional
  • CIS 102: 
    • CompTIA PenTest+
    • CompTIA Security+
  • CIS 104: CompTIA Security+
  • CIS 105:
    • Amazon Web Services Certified Cloud Practitioner
    • Amazon Web Services Certified Systems Operations Administrator
    • CompTIA Cloud+
    • CompTIA Cloud Essentials+
    • CompTIA Security+
  • CIS 108:
    • Military credit (see section below)
    • EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker
    • EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator
  • CIS 170F: Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate-Windows Server

Courses Eligible for Credit by Military Transcript

The following courses are potentially eligible for credit by military transcript. Please check back for instructions – coming soon!

  • KNES 53
  • CIS 99
  • CIS 108


Conditions and Requirements

These conditions and requirements apply to all forms of Credit for Prior Learning. Be sure to review these conditions and ask your counselor if you have any questions.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for CPL, you must:

  • Be currently admitted – either by taking courses at De Anza in the previous quarter, or by completing an application for admission to the current quarter and receiving a notice of acceptance
  • Be in good academic standing (not be on academic or progress probation)
  • Request CPL for a course listed in De Anza’s current course catalog that is currently approved for CPL
  • Be eligible for the course in terms of any prerequisites and other enrollment requirements
  • Not be currently enrolled in the course for which you're requesting CPL
  • Not have requested CPL for the same course previously at De Anza or Foothill college – although you may enroll in the course for credit in a future term, if the CPL assessment produced a substandard grade of D, F or NP

Choosing to Decline or Appeal

You may accept, decline or appeal the decisions related to the award of CPL credit.

  • You must decline or appeal the award of CPL credit before the Admissions and Records Office posts the grade to your transcript
  • Once the grade is posted to your transcript, you may no longer decline or appeal the grade
  • To decline CPL credit, you must indicate that on the CPL application form before it is sent to the Office of Admissions and Records

Credit Unit Restrictions

Credit for Prior Learning does not cover knowledge or skills for which you were already assessed and awarded credit from other regionally accredited colleges.

Units earned by CPL:

  • Willl not be considered as units completed in residence towards a certificate or degree
  • Cannot be used for enrollment verification or reports to insurance companies or other similar agencies
  • May count toward major or general education coursework for the associate degree or certificate, or as elective units
  • Cannot be used to satisfy unit load requirements for purposes such as Selective Service deferment, veteran's benefits, Social Security benefits or Financial Aid.
  • Will be clearly annotated on your academic record to reflect that it was earned as CPL


Steps to Apply for CPL

Credit by Exam, Portfolio, Industry Certification or Military Training

Credit by Exam/Portfolio

Please check back for instructions – coming soon.

Credit by Industry Certification

If you have prior learning or knowledge in a subject that corresponds to a course listed under Courses Eligible for Credit by Industry Certification:

  1. Fill out and submit the Industry Certification application form, which you can find in MyPortal: Click on the card for Adobe Sign Forms and look in your list of student forms for: De Anza Credit for Prior Learning - Industry Certification Request
  2. You will need to attach your industry certification document with the form. 
  3. Be sure to check the boxes that ask you to acknowledge your understanding of the CPL conditions and requirements.
  4. The form will be routed to the Admissions and Records Office for review and processing.
  5. After the form is processed, you will receive an email notification, explaining whether your certification was accepted.

Credit for Military Training

Please check back for instructions – coming soon.

Other CPL Methods: AP, CLEP or IB

Some forms of CPL do not require an application, although you will need to submit official scores or transcripts.


How to Obtain Your ASE Status Letter

If you have earned one or more certifications from ASE, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, you can obtain documentation by following these steps:

  1. Visit ase.com
  2. Click the button in the upper-right corner to sign in to your account
  3. When the "Overview" page opens on your screen, click on “View Status Letter”
  4. Download the PDF file that shows your certifications
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