Whether you’re starting college for the first time or returning to the classroom after many years away, it’s never too late to earn your degree at UW-Whitewater.
Our admissions, student services, and veteran services teams collaborate in warmly welcoming returning adult students.
Adult students at UW-Whitewater have the opportunity to request credit for classes currently available through the catalog.
During the application process, you will work with the program coordinator to determine your eligibility for the program and the courses for which an application is most likely to be successful. This will involve matching classes in the UWW catalog with your work and life experience.
Once you are accepted to the program, you will enroll in an online course. You will enroll in 1.5 - 4.5 credits, 1.5 credit for each course request.
In your online Credit for Prior Learning class, you will put together one portfolio for each class request. The portfolio will be a collection of artifacts and reflections that demonstrate the learning you have already done and how it relates to the learning objectives for the course for which you are requesting credit.
If you complete the portfolio, you will automatically earn credit for the online portfolio class. Your portfolio will also be submitted to an expert in the appropriate field. This evaluator will read the portfolio and determine whether or not sufficient learning has been demonstrated for credit to be earned.
Many different classes across campus have been successfully challenged, including the following:
College or Department policy and the expert opinion of faculty and instructors determines whether or not students can seek credit for particular courses. Sometimes an accrediting body prohibits or discourages use of Credit for Prior Learning as well. The following departments are unable to accept CPL toward their major:
As an adult student, you’ll still use the traditional Universities of Wisconsin Application for Undergraduate Admission.
Start your online Universities of Wisconsin Application.
Within a few days, after you submit your application, you’ll receive an email about setting up an account for our student information system, WINS. You can track your college application progress, such as what documents still might be needed.
As a returning adult student, you won’t need to submit your ACT or SAT scores. Instead, we complete a comprehensive review of your application to determine if we believe you can be successful in our academic environment.
We’ll look at factors such as:
Returning adult students should apply to UW-Whitewater by:
We suggest you complete your FAFSA by Jan. 1 for priority financial aid consideration. Financial aid, such as scholarships for adult students, is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage you to apply early.