Adults who need to return to school for college studies will soon have greater options to earn credit for what they already know.

As one of five University System of Georgia institutions chosen for a College Access Challenge Grant, Bainbridge College is part of the USG Adult Learning Consortium.

"Bainbridge College's focus is on the processes and policies that will benefit student adult learners returning to college," said Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Mariam Dittmann, who leads the BC group implementing the various aspects of the grant.

Each of the five campuses, which include Valdosta State University as the lead institution, Atlanta Metropolitan College, Fort Valley State University and Georgia Southwestern State University, has received $25,000 of Challenge Grant funds to work together to improve services for adult students returning to college. They are working to expand programs that focus on strategic regional workforce needs, test the awarding of credit for learning acquired through life experience, and pass on their best practices to the entire USG.

BC has long offered ways to exempt courses or gain course credit through challenge exams or demonstration of existing skills and knowledge. Dr. Dittmann gave as examples the academic CLEP tests for areas such as languages or mathematics and the fact that the Continuing Education Division has assisted in the testing of welding skills in order to send letters to employers certifying a person's abilities.

"This is an exciting new project that focuses on bringing adults back to college," Dr. Dittmann said. "Federal and state studies show that a person with a college degree can have a lifetime potential earning of $1 million more than a person without a degree.

BC is focusing equally on potential credit for courses offered in the Arts and Sciences and in the Technical Studies divisions because it is difficult for an adult learner returning to college or coming to college for the first time to start from ground zero.

The Adult Learning Consortium is building on the program that Valdosta State piloted last year and successfully experimented with prior-learning assessment.

"We're excited to be working with our partners," Dr. Dittmann said. She noted the already strong working relationship BC has with Georgia Southwestern through its cooperative bachelor's degree programs offered at BC.

She expects BC's group to develop and refine its tests in the coming year. It has a survey to determine the level and quality of services provided to adult learners. That survey was developed through the Council for Adult Experiential Learning, which has done extensive work on prior learning assessments and adult learning processes.

The survey results will show BC its strengths and weaknesses in order to address the latter and make for friendlier access to BC to minimize the barriers to a college education for adult learners.