Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) is widely recognized as a powerful strategy for supporting adult learners by formally recognizing college-level learning acquired outside the classroom. By validating this learning, institutions can provide faster, more flexible, and more affordable pathways to a degree. Despite growing adoption, CPL remains unevenly implemented across higher education. Institutions struggle to scale CPL due to limited infrastructure, inconsistent transfer policies, and skepticism about non-classroom learning. These barriers are particularly pronounced for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated learners who remain largely excluded from CPL opportunities.

This exclusion persists even though individuals in carceral settings frequently develop substantial college-level learning through work assignments, training programs, peer mentorship, and navigating complex legal and institutional systems. While recent policy changes have expanded access to higher education in prison, they have largely reinforced traditional classroom-based models of learning, leaving little room to recognize the experiential knowledge students bring with them.

Unbound Learning: A Collaborative Study, published in August 2025 by College Unbound (a NECHE-accredited, place-based online college with a prison education program in Rhode Island) and CAEL, examines experiential learning in carceral settings, highlighting learning that occurs during incarceration, identifying gaps in resources and support, and outlining next steps. Leveraging Ithaka S+R’s research around student mobility and access, this session at the CAEL Conference will feature a new collaboration with College Unbound to explore how CPL can better recognize learning acquired in carceral contexts.

Participants will learn about College Unbound’s innovative CPL practices that validate lived experiences, including its Learning in Public (LIP) portfolios, which provide structured pathways to document and reflect on learning through narrative assessments, interviews, and other competency aligned tools. Presenters will also share insights from interviews with College Unbound faculty, staff, and formerly incarcerated students, illustrating how this research informed the development of practical frameworks for identifying, assessing, and awarding credit for learning in carceral environments. These resources can help institutions design more inclusive CPL policies and expand pathways to degree completion for justice-impacted learners.