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Janyce Andre
Prior Learning Assessment
In the Prior Learning Assessment program, students demonstrate college-level knowledge of undergraduate course material through writing detailed essays on the subject.
Janyce Andre is a successful business owner, the co-proprietor of a wholesale plant nursery, Andre's Nursery. Why would she expend the effort and the time to earn a bachelor's degree at Marylhurst University?
"I hadn't planned on pursuing a four-year degree," Janyce admitted. It began with just two classes at Clackamas Community College, Conversational Spanish and Drawing, that she took for pleasure.
One day while visiting the Marylhurst campus with her son, a Marylhurst student, she read an informational piece on the Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) program.
Valued Education
"I have always valued education," said Janyce, who served 12 years on the Estacada school board. "I wasn't 'officially' educated but I knew I had a lot of knowledge."
Janyce was intrigued by the idea of earning credit for her knowledge, and signed up for the introductory course, Learning Assessment Workshop. Less than two years later, Janyce earned a bachelor's degree in communications. She utilized the PLA program to its full potential – a maximum 45 undergraduate credits – while she took an additional 73 credits through traditional classes.
Janyce demonstrated her on-the-job knowledge in PLA coursework for Organic Gardening and Pesticide Selection and Use, and utilized her volunteer experience, as a co-founder of a community drug and alcohol awareness organization, earning psychology credits in Youth at Risk and Drugs and Addictions.
Busy Lifestyle
While the research and writing required for PLA credit was time-consuming, it was work she could fit into her busy schedule, around her business and her family, she said. Had it not been for Marylhurst's PLA program, Janyce said, she would have completed only her two-year degree. Now, she is nearing completion of her master's degree. Her career has not changed – she still runs Andre's Nursery – but she has achieved goals she never expected were possible at this stage in her life.