FAQs: Learning for Credit
Frequently asked questions about learning for college credit.
It’s a combination of three things: a facilitator who has been onboarded, a library or partner that has agreed to participate, and a course that has been vetted by College Unbound.
Learners seeking credit will need to complete a learning journal, which includes a weekly reflection, a wrap-up activity in their learning circle, and a few assignments that are part of the course. All of this information is included in each learning journal for the course.
Yes, these learning circles are open to the public. Not all participants need to be seeking credit. There is no age limit for participants who wish to participate for credit.
No diploma or high school equivalency is necessary to obtain credit. However, if a learner decides to enroll in a degree seeking program at college unbound there are different requirements.
Participants must submit their learner journals via email within 3 weeks of completing their learning circle. Instructions for submission are included in each journal. For participants who need to submit via mail, please contact [email protected] for more information.
There is no cost for learners to apply for or receive credit for learning circles. If for some reason you need an official College Unbound transcript, it will cost $2.25 to $3.50, but College Unbound does not require that you purchase an official transcript.
It shouldn’t take more than an extra 30-60 minutes per week. Any credit-related questions should be directed to College Unbound, so the main difference for the facilitator is just reminding those on the credit track to do their weekly reflections.
No. Once you’ve completed a P2PU training, you are free to run credit-bearing learning circles whenever you want.
Facilitators are not required to monitor or grade any of the learning journal reflections or assignments. You may be contacted to verify that a learner participated in the learning circle, but you will not be required to account for weekly attendance data.
Each course has a required minimum number of meetings and a recommended cadence. You can choose whatever tempo you want for your meetings (e.g. weekly, 2x week) or add additional meetings, but you cannot shorten the number of meetings. Longer learning circles are not eligible for additional credit.
Participants can join as many learning circles as they want, but they can only earn credit for each course once. In other words, if there are six courses approved for college credit, participants may earn up to six college credits.
Yes! We’re working on it now. If there’s a particular subject or course that you’d like to see please let us know at [email protected].
No, they are being awarded credit as non-degree-seeking community members. If participants wish to apply this credit to a CU degree, they should reach out to [email protected] for more information. If a learner decides to enroll in a degree seeking program at college unbound there are additional requirements that will need to be met. Learners who wish to enroll in a degree seeking program will also need to be able to attend classes in Rhode Island, either Providence or Newport at least once per week.
Learners who wish to obtain a degree from College Unbound will be responsible for paying tuition for their classes at college unbound post-enrollment.
Our colleagues at College Unbound have created this Social Media Toolkit to help you promote your credit-bearing learning circle on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
You can also find a general guide to promoting learning circles in the Finding Participants section of the Knowledge Base.