SOU honors the learning you have completed outside of the classroom. And, this helps you save time and money as you pursue your degree. As part of that commitment, we offer credit for prior learning – academic credit earned when you demonstrate learning that you’ve gained outside the traditional college classroom. Since credit for prior learning is non-traditional, evaluation has to be done very carefully to ensure that it meets Southern Oregon University’s standards for quality. The evaluation process for this is through portfolio based assessment, challenge exams or the transfer of military credit through ACE