National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS)
In 1973, The Board of Regents established NCCRS in keeping with its aim of increasing access to higher education for working adults. NCCRS is based on the premise that it is sound educational practice to grant college credit for high quality educational programs conducted by noncollegiate organizations, provided these experiences are at the college level, and the credit is appropriate to an individual’s degree program. Moreover, experience has shown that the awarding of credit for prior learning will in many cases motivate students to enroll in formal postsecondary programs of study, a primary mission of the Board of Regents and NCCRS. Many college officials use College Credit Recommendation Service (CCRS) Online, to identify and actively recruit nontraditional students who have completed these evaluated learning experiences. NCCRS serves noncollegiate organizations throughout the country and overseas. These organizations include corporations, labor unions, professional and voluntary associations, religious institutions, municipal and state government agencies, utilities, hospitals, proprietary vocational schools, and other nondegree-granting organizations. The courses and programs that have been evaluated cover a wide variety of subject areas, including accounting, acting, art, banking, botany, business administration, computer science, counseling, criminal justice, culinary arts, early childhood education, electrical engineering, finance, health services administration, insurance, information technology, Judaic studies, management, mathematics, nuclear engineering technology, nursing, office information systems, psychology, and social science.
What is College Credit Recommendation?
A college credit recommendation is an academic advisement about the comparability of a learning experience to college-level instruction, such as undergraduate or graduate course work, the amount of credit that may be awarded, and areas where credit could apply. The credit recommendations are intended to guide college officials as they consider awarding credit to persons who have successfully completed NCCRS evaluated learning experiences. College credit recommendations are not actual college credit because the New York State Board of Regents does not award college credit. Through the results of the NCCRS evaluations, however, the Board of Regents encourages colleges and universities to consider accepting the credit recommendations.
Acceptance of College Credit Recommendations:
Given the national reputation of the New York State Board of Regents, NCCRS enjoys wide acceptance by the academic community. More than 1,200 Cooperating Colleges and Universities across the U.S. have indicated a willingness to consider awarding credit based on NCCRS credit recommendations. This is not to say that the colleges and universities on this list or every department within these academic institutions will award credit for every credit recommendation. They award credit on a case-by-case basis; credit recommendations are assessed according to how they fit within a student’s degree program. Academic institutions may accept, reject, or modify the credit recommendations according to their policies. When a college is willing to consider awarding credit, it may be constrained by the requirements within individual degree programs, particularly at the two-year college level, where many degree programs are prescribed, affording few course slots for transfer or elective credit. In these instances, credit recommendations may be reserved for later use at the four-year college level, when more course slots may be available that could be satisfied by the NCCRS evaluated learning experiences.
List of NCCRS Approved CFT Courses
In addition to the NCCRS transfer recommendations, CFT also has transfer credit agreements with several local colleges and universities. These agreements detail exactly which CFT course credits will be accepted, and to which college courses they will be applied. Students will find business and banking related degree programs at these colleges that will complement their CFT course work. Click Here for more information about CFT college affiliation programs.
When you are ready to transfer your CFT credits to a college or university, you will need to complete a Recordkeeping Services Request Form and submit it to CFT.