Start From Yes – Joint Statement on Credit Evaluation & Learning Mobility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AACRAO Contact: Quintina Barnett Gallion
Associate Executive Director, Strategy and Planning
Communications@aacrao.org

Sova Contact: Lara Couturier, Ph.D.
Partner, Sova
lara.couturier@sova.org 

Nineteen organizations representing thousands of U.S. higher education institutions and learners join the LEARN Commission in calling for “Start from Yes”: a new default in learning evaluation that presumes prior transfer credit should be counted toward credentials. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 2, 2026

For too long, the process for evaluating transferred course credit and other relevant prior learning has flown under the radar, even as it has had an outsized impact on learners. Nationally, 4 in 10 adult Americans report attempting to transfer credit, and when they do, 65 percent report a negative experience such as having to repeat classes when credits do not transfer and using up financial aid on duplicative courses. Moreover, sixteen percent report abandoning their college plans altogether because the process of transferring is so difficult. 

To address this problem, AACRAO and Sova launched the national Learning Evaluation and Recognition for the Next Generation (LEARN) Commission to develop updated guidelines for recognizing undergraduate learning in all its forms and applying learning to credentials, with the intent of advancing learning mobility. Composed of practitioner leaders, accreditors, and research experts from across the country, the Commission released its findings and culminating recommendations in December 2025, asserting that a dramatically different approach to learning evaluation is urgently needed. 

For too long, the default in learning evaluation has been skepticism – toward the prior learning, toward the learner, and toward the institution or setting where the prior learning took place. The LEARN Commission calls on higher education to reverse that presumption: Start from yes.

Today, organizations across the country are answering that call with a firm commitment to lead the change. Representing key constituents across thousands of two- and four-year public and private institutions of diverse missions, sizes, and geographic locations, and the learners they serve, these organizations have endorsed the recommendations of the LEARN Commission, pledged to support their institutional members in putting those recommendations into practice, and joined the call to “Start from yes.”

This work is bigger than any one organization. We invite associations, institutions, and organizations committed to a more learner-centered future to join us. Add your organization’s name to the statement and help move the field from conversation to action. 

Current signatories include:

• Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC)
• American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) 
• American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)
• American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
• American Council on Education (ACE) 
• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
• Council for Adult & Experiential Learning, Inc. (CAEL)
• Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) 
• Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) 
• Educate Texas
• Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
• Jobs for the Future
• Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
• New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) 
• Sova
• The Commission on Colleges and Universities, formerly the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
• Transfer Nation
• WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)

These organizations have signed the Joint Statement on Credit Evaluation and Learning Mobility, affirming the LEARN Commission’s recommendations and building upon the Joint Statement on the Transfer and Award of Credit, last updated by AACRAO, ACE and CHEA in 2021.

“Adopting the ‘Start from Yes’ approach is not only the right thing to do to serve today’s learners; it is also a strategic necessity for institutions,” stated AACRAO Executive Director Melanie Gottlieb. “By recognizing and validating learning acquired, colleges and universities can build more efficient, transparent pathways to credentials. This shift empowers learners to succeed while strengthening the long-term vitality and relevance of our institutions.” 

The organizations signing this statement choose to lead. “‘Start from Yes’ acknowledges that in today’s world–where the only norm is constant change–higher education must find ways to respect and uplift the high-quality skills and competencies that learners and workers gain every day. It’s time for a culture change that ensures learners and workers see a return on investment for their hard-earned and hard-learned credits,” noted Lara Couturier, partner at Sova.   

Together with endorsing organizations, members of the LEARN Commission and reform-minded practitioners, AACRAO and Sova call on the broader higher education community to take an honest look at their own policies and practices, ask whether the status quo is serving learners, and act on what they find. Every learner who earns credit deserves to have it recognized. Every credential within reach should be within reach. That is the future the LEARN Commission has charted. We are committed to helping build it. Start from Yes.

We invite your higher education institution or organization to add its voice by signing this statement. Signing on is a signal to the field and to learners that you are ready to move.

Sign on Now

For more information, please contact: communications@aacrao.org

About AACRAO

AACRAO is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association working to make higher education more responsive to learners. With a membership of more than 22,000 higher education professionals at approximately 2,100 institutions in more than 30 countries, collectively representing over 16.4 million enrolled learners, the association provides advocacy, research, and policy-based guidance and training to higher education professionals to smooth the path for learners at every stage of their journey.

About Sova

Sova partners with higher education systems and institutions, associations, and philanthropies to achieve large-scale change through careful attention to actionable strategy and practical implementation support.

About the Signatories

• The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) is dedicated to advancing the democratic purposes of higher education across its more than 1,200 institutional and individual members that collectively reach 7+ million enrolled learners and 350,000+ faculty and staff. 
• The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is the primary advocacy organization for the nation’s more than 1,000 two-year, associate degree-granting institutions which collectively serve nearly 10.5 million learners.
• The American Council on Education (ACE) represents nearly 1,600 colleges and universities, related associations, and other organizations in the U.S. and abroad and whose members educate two out of every three learners in all accredited, degree-granting U.S. institutions.
• The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) represents more than 250 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, six U.S. territories, Canada, and Mexico.
• The Council for Adult & Experiential Learning, Inc. (CAEL) engages with educators, employers, and community leaders to align learning and work so that adults achieve continuous, long-term career success.
• The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is an association of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities and recognizes institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations.
• The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) includes five federally recognized accrediting commissions that together accredit over 2,000 postsecondary, degree-granting colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. These accrediting commissions include:
  • Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC)
  • Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
  • New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
  • The Commission on Colleges and Universities, formerly the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
  • WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)
• Educate Texas, an initiative of Communities Foundation of Texas, is a trusted change agent in education that thinks bigger by providing solutions through programs and practices, instilling change through policy, and convening the right partnerships and networks for action.
• Jobs for the Future transforms U.S. education and workforce systems to drive economic success for people, businesses, and communities through deep partnerships with employers, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and education and workforce development providers.
• The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) is a global institutional accreditor that assures students and the public of the educational quality for its over 500 institutions of higher education.
• The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) provides institutional accreditation for 159 diverse higher education institutions in the U.S. and internationally, including public universities, private colleges, tribal colleges, and specialized institutions. 
• Transfer Nation is an open-access community for all who advocate for the transfer experience, including transfer professionals and students.