2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Skilled technicians with industry and Career Technical Education (CTE) certifications, apprenticeship credentials, military technical training, or extensive on‑the‑job experience often possess competencies comparable to those of students who have completed college‑level coursework. Yet, when these non‑degree technicians pursue engineering bachelor’s degrees, their prior technical learning is frequently overlooked or, when recognized, applied only as elective credit rather than toward required major courses. This pattern contributes to repeated coursework, higher costs, and longer time to degree. This paper examines whether engineering programs accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) recognize technicians’ prior technical learning from work experience, portfolio assessments, apprenticeships, Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways, military technical training, and industry certifications. We also examine whether such learning is positioned to satisfy required major coursework or is restricted to electives or petition‑based applications. Drawing on credentialism, we interpret credit‑recognition policies as gatekeeping mechanisms that privilege academic legitimacy over demonstrated competence. Using a comparative policy analysis of Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) and Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) documents from 10 institutions across five U.S. regions, we find that recognition is narrow, uneven, and rarely accompanied by transparent or guaranteed major applicability. Because technicians disproportionately include veterans, first‑generation students, low‑income learners, rural learners, and racially minoritized learners, these patterns reproduce equity gaps when non-academic technical (hands‑on) learning is routed into electives or petition‑only processes. We propose equity‑centered, program‑level reforms that support the transparent recognition of non-academic technical learning (such as industry certifications, apprenticeships, and CTE credentials) through published equivalencies rather than through petition processes alone. These reforms would expand the likelihood that technical learning counts toward required major coursework and strengthen technician‑to‑engineer pathways.

Keywords: Credit for Prior Learning (CPL); Prior Learning Assessment (PLA); industry certifications; apprenticeships; military training; ABET; engineering pathways; educational equity.