A person can make credit work for him/her through several ways.
Some of these options aim at giving clear-cut path for students in college, while others through retroactive means directly awards degree to individuals who have enough credits. This applies to drop out students who have earned enough credit in a certificate course or lower degree. This method combs through a student's transcript to determine whether they are qualified for a certificate or its equivalent. However, in a situation where a person does not meet the required credits, but he or she is getting closer to achieving this mark, the system provides some ways the student can work to complete their degree.
Another way of utilizing credit points is transferring them.
Transfer of credit applies in situations where the student has not yet finished his or her degree studies, but they wish to complete their studies in a lesser time than initially stipulated. However, this is mostly dependent on the institution of learning. Some schools have stringent policies while others readily accept older credit. It is also important to note that through this method the student risks losing credits for a whole semester or even the entire year when transferring.
The third option is through turning college experience into life or work experience.
If a student is not able to directly transfer college class to another institution, he or she can earn placement credit for them. The student can opt to be tested either by taking the new institution placement tests or by obtaining the acceptable score on a CLEP test in the subjects in question.
