NCCRS

What NCCRS is

NCCRS is a program of the Board of Regents of The University of the State of New York, operating since 1973. It serves organisations that deliver college-level education and training outside degree-granting institutions (professional associations, training providers, employers, non-profits) by evaluating their programs and publishing credit recommendations that colleges and universities can consult.

Its published directory of evaluated courses is the CCRS Online Directory, which is where a registrar or a student checks whether a particular course was evaluated and what was recommended.

A recommendation is not credit

The Board of Regents does not award college credit through this service, so an NCCRS credit recommendation is not credit. It is an academic advisement about how a learning experience compares to college-level coursework, how much credit might be awarded, and where that credit could apply. The decision to award credit rests entirely with the college or university the student attends, under that institution’s own transfer and prior-learning-assessment policies.

Because acceptance is an institutional decision, no one can promise a student in advance that a recommendation will convert into credit, and no public list of accepting institutions exists, for NCCRS or for ACE.

How the evaluation works

Review teams are typically three evaluators selected for subject-matter expertise, drawn from postsecondary institutions, professional and educational associations, and non-collegiate organisations. The team assesses whether the learning meets college-level standards and whether student performance is adequately assessed. Where a recommendation is warranted, it establishes the level of credit, the number of credit hours, and the subject area or areas where credit may be assigned.

What a student actually does with one

The path NCCRS sets out for students is worth knowing, because advisors are asked about it and the steps are unglamorous:

1. Confirm the course was evaluated, using the CCRS Online Directory.
2. Request an official transcript from the organisation that sponsored the course and have it sent to the college or university.
3. On application, meet with an academic advisor, ask them to review the transcript, and ask about the institution’s prior learning assessment policies.

Step three is where the outcome is determined. Everything before it is documentation.

A note on the web address

The authoritative site is nationalccrs.org. The similarly named nccrs.org no longer resolves to this service and should not be cited or linked.

Where this applies to the NSLS

Three NSLS courses carry credit recommendations from ACE and NCCRS: FOL 102, ADV 202 and EXEC 302. The NSLS states that the process of transferring credit recommendations varies by institution, and directs students to their registrar. Accreditation, a credit recommendation, and credit are three separate things and are frequently spoken of as one; the version written for registrars and academic affairs is at accreditation and credit recommendations.

See also ACE credit recommendation and our guide to career readiness.