Searching the Internet for "life experience degrees", there is no shortage of results on how you could get a life experience degree for what you already know. Before we go into details on what is the scoop on these degree option, you need to be very skeptical about these degrees. We will look on the bad and good side of this practice to help in your decision making.
The Bad Side
1. The biggest issue with more than 90% of the schools that offer "life experience" degrees is the question of ethics. They have no regard for academic or vocational standards to issue a degree in the first place.
2. The next main issue is that most of these schools will not really evaluate your resume to ensure that you are really qualified. They claim to do detailed evaluation by some academic board but nothing is done. How much of them even ask for documents to verify or even call your employer?
3. They do not have the qualification and standing to evaluate your qualifications in the first place. Therefore the claim that you maybe qualified is totally bogus. The real deal is that truly qualified professors with good ethics would stay away from this approach in the first place. Not saying it cannot be done properly but they would need an entity that is focus on quality.
4. They are not properly accredited. Most of these school claim you get an accredited degree which is true legally but obviously they are not telling the truth in terms of what is considered true accreditation. This is tied in with the last point in that you need to be qualified to even get the accreditation in first place in which case these schools would not even come close.
5. They are after money 100% of time. This means they will not want to reject anyone who may not have been qualified in the first place. This sums up this whole industry, getting as much money as possible.
In all of this, a standard degree from a conventional university is given based on demonstrated academic skills and capabilities. The bogus "life experience" degree will not come anywhere close to this standard.
The Good Side
The term "life experience" had been muddied and miss-interpreted but does have some merit when treated in the correct way. This experience could be an extensive project at work, previous academic classes or corporate training. All of those play into developing competence that may be comparable to academic experiences. Lets discuss some legitimate ways to use life experiences for academic credit.
1. There are properly accredited schools that allow you to claim credit for what you already know (Life Experience). The amount of work required is as much as taking the class itself. Of course, some people maybe more motivated to go this route as you would develop good writing skills in the process and they just don't want to take a class. Most times, this approach is combined with exams.
2. The French VAE process is the closest you would get to a "life experience" degree. However, this process would be done by a real university plus you really need to be qualified to get the degree in first place. As discussed before, if you bring multiple experiences such as previous education and good verifiable job duties then you could get a full degree. Of course, it means finding a French university that does this in English as well taking a trip to France for the interview process.
3. Having lots of professional certifications would advance your chances of getting academic credit for what you already know. Generally, it does not make sense to go the route of experience conversion unless you are working for at least 10 years. Below that you should really try and go back to school or take exams.
4. Examination is a much more accepted route to gain a degree in a short time. Within the US, there are several college level exam programs that could get significant credit towards a degree. The UK system does allow you to take professional exams which gives you a qualification that is comparable to the respective degree levels.
5. Membership in respected professional bodies could satisfy the need for recognition in your field. From experience, most UK professional societies does have minimal experience and education to gain membership, so if you can meet these requirements then you would have a good certificate to show an achievement.
6. If your goal is strictly for self-esteem within your personal circles then the best choice is to get a degree in a more personal area such as religion or something like that. This would avoid the temptation to use in your professional work. Its actually more acceptable to get such degree through a church than some money hungry online school.
Conclusion
Most times when you see the term "life experience" with any online school, its best to stay away. However, having lots of training and experience, it make sense to consider exams as one way to close the gap in the short term. A combination of exams and Portfolio evaluation could get most of the credit required to gain the degree you want.
We still believe that the concept of a degree equivalent life experience diploma is valid with a rigorous evaluation process including an extensive thesis plus interview to prove the person has good standing in that field. The term diploma is better as this process would still not be purely academic but the level of competence could be comparable to a degree.
The Bad Side
1. The biggest issue with more than 90% of the schools that offer "life experience" degrees is the question of ethics. They have no regard for academic or vocational standards to issue a degree in the first place.
2. The next main issue is that most of these schools will not really evaluate your resume to ensure that you are really qualified. They claim to do detailed evaluation by some academic board but nothing is done. How much of them even ask for documents to verify or even call your employer?
3. They do not have the qualification and standing to evaluate your qualifications in the first place. Therefore the claim that you maybe qualified is totally bogus. The real deal is that truly qualified professors with good ethics would stay away from this approach in the first place. Not saying it cannot be done properly but they would need an entity that is focus on quality.
4. They are not properly accredited. Most of these school claim you get an accredited degree which is true legally but obviously they are not telling the truth in terms of what is considered true accreditation. This is tied in with the last point in that you need to be qualified to even get the accreditation in first place in which case these schools would not even come close.
5. They are after money 100% of time. This means they will not want to reject anyone who may not have been qualified in the first place. This sums up this whole industry, getting as much money as possible.
In all of this, a standard degree from a conventional university is given based on demonstrated academic skills and capabilities. The bogus "life experience" degree will not come anywhere close to this standard.
The Good Side
The term "life experience" had been muddied and miss-interpreted but does have some merit when treated in the correct way. This experience could be an extensive project at work, previous academic classes or corporate training. All of those play into developing competence that may be comparable to academic experiences. Lets discuss some legitimate ways to use life experiences for academic credit.
1. There are properly accredited schools that allow you to claim credit for what you already know (Life Experience). The amount of work required is as much as taking the class itself. Of course, some people maybe more motivated to go this route as you would develop good writing skills in the process and they just don't want to take a class. Most times, this approach is combined with exams.
2. The French VAE process is the closest you would get to a "life experience" degree. However, this process would be done by a real university plus you really need to be qualified to get the degree in first place. As discussed before, if you bring multiple experiences such as previous education and good verifiable job duties then you could get a full degree. Of course, it means finding a French university that does this in English as well taking a trip to France for the interview process.
3. Having lots of professional certifications would advance your chances of getting academic credit for what you already know. Generally, it does not make sense to go the route of experience conversion unless you are working for at least 10 years. Below that you should really try and go back to school or take exams.
4. Examination is a much more accepted route to gain a degree in a short time. Within the US, there are several college level exam programs that could get significant credit towards a degree. The UK system does allow you to take professional exams which gives you a qualification that is comparable to the respective degree levels.
5. Membership in respected professional bodies could satisfy the need for recognition in your field. From experience, most UK professional societies does have minimal experience and education to gain membership, so if you can meet these requirements then you would have a good certificate to show an achievement.
6. If your goal is strictly for self-esteem within your personal circles then the best choice is to get a degree in a more personal area such as religion or something like that. This would avoid the temptation to use in your professional work. Its actually more acceptable to get such degree through a church than some money hungry online school.
Conclusion
Most times when you see the term "life experience" with any online school, its best to stay away. However, having lots of training and experience, it make sense to consider exams as one way to close the gap in the short term. A combination of exams and Portfolio evaluation could get most of the credit required to gain the degree you want.
We still believe that the concept of a degree equivalent life experience diploma is valid with a rigorous evaluation process including an extensive thesis plus interview to prove the person has good standing in that field. The term diploma is better as this process would still not be purely academic but the level of competence could be comparable to a degree.