Intel students can earn college credit for life/work experience

Alexander Decker is the first Mercyhurst student to take advantage of the new CLE program being offered by Intelligence Studies.

As Mercyhurst University continues to seek ways of making higher education more affordable and accessible, one of its niche programs is introducing a new “college credit for life experience” (CLE) program.

Mercyhurst offers CLE credits toward graduate programs in Education and Nursing, but this is a first for Intelligence Studies and applies to both the bachelor’s and master’s levels.

Lindy Smart, executive director of the Department of Intelligence Studies, said the initiative allows students to leverage their prior work experience in intelligence toward their degree. “The cool part is that this came from a current student, Alexander Decker,” Smart said. “He is in the military and took courses through the military, which he later learned wouldn’t count toward his transfer. He approached me and asked if there was a way to make it work. And we did.”

Decker, 23, of Albany, New York, is a signals intelligence analyst with the New York Army National Guard and is a junior in the Intelligence Studies program at Mercyhurst. “I'm very grateful for this opportunity as it will allow me to graduate a semester earlier than anticipated and allow me to complete my degree before my deployment in 2025,” Decker said.

Older adults make up a significant amount of college enrollment numbers; roughly about one-third are over 25, according to Best Colleges. Often these individuals have achieved work/life goals that could go toward advancing their degrees.

Veterans, for example, are one category of student that could benefit. As a military-friendly Purple Heart University, Mercyhurst enrolls 86 veterans with an estimated 20 percent majoring in Intelligence Studies.

Smart said she is pleased to have Intel provide this opportunity not only because students gain credits for work they have already done, but it enables the program to maintain a pulse on real-world intel work, which can be incorporated into the Mercyhurst curriculum.

PHOTO: Alexander Decker is the first Mercyhurst student to take advantage of the new CLE program being offered by Intelligence Studies.