If your teen earns any college credit that isn’t directly coming from a college, you probably have to use Credly. Help! What is Credly? In this post, I’ll explain Credly very simply and in under 5 minutes.

What is Credly?

Credly is a third party that holds certain types of college credit.

Why/when would I use Credly?

Any courses taken through a non-college may require using a Credly account, but no matter what a target college requires, it’s essential that you use Credly EVERY TIME it is an option. This protects your teen’s credit in the event of a company going out of business.

Does your teen have college credit earned BEFORE 2021? click here for a longer explanation of what to do with that credit.

Do I need a Credly account?

YES – you need a Credly account

NO- you do NOT need a Credly account

ALEKS Corporation—McGraw Hill Saylor Academy Sophia Straighterline (ACE) Study.com (ACE) Workplace Training GED Exam The Institutes for Statistics Education (ACE) SeeMore Impact Labs (formerly CSM Learn) Penn Foster College (limited to ACE courses only) Gateway Education (ACE) College Plus FEMA Independent Study Gateway Education Lumerit National Fire Academy Texas Engineering Extension Service TEEX The Institutes (Insurance) TOR Academy UExcel Exams (through 2015) Unbound / Be Unbound Verity College Education (through 2016)

Dual Enrollment Advanced Placement (AP) CLEP DSST / Dantes TECEP ACTFL NYU-FLP Wescott Arizona State University Universal Learner Outlier Classical Conversations IEW Christian Halls Veritas Press Coopersmith Law Shelf Davar OnlineDegreecom Christian Leaders College Olivet Nazarene University Your Way UExcel (after 2015)

For those with college credit but no Credly account:

Put creating an account at the TOP of your to-do list for TODAY!

You’ll open a free Credly account in the name of the student who will earn college credit. It is best to do this before they begin earning college credit, but no matter what, do it TODAY.

Once the Credly account is active, they can now receive credits into the account.

Upon completion of an ACE course (from the table above), follow the ACE provider’s instructions for adding that course to your Credly account. For many providers, this happens automatically, but you may have to request it manually. Keep track and be sure that EVERY credit earned is being housed in the Credly account.

Later, when your teen wants to attend college, you can make a request with Credly, and their official transcript will be sent to your target college(s) for evaluation. Do not send credits from ACE providers directly (Studycom, Straighterline, Sophia, etc.) unless the college (1) has a partnership with the ACE provider and (2) they are telling you to do so. ACE providers are not regionally accredited, so sending a transcript directly from a company instead of Credly will likely result in complete denial of credits.