Record Crowds, National CPL Provider Network Highlight CAEL 50th Annual Conference

CAEL President Earl Buford greeted record crowds during his opening remarks at CAEL’s 50^th annual conference, held in New Orleans last week. More than 1,000 people attended the conference, where they heard Buford officially announce CAEL’s Credit for Prior Learning Provider Network.

Contrasting CPL’s proven ability to advance student and institutional success with its underutilization, Buford said the network will help raise awareness about CPL, providing learners with a “free, one-stop connection to postsecondary institutions where their prior learning experiences can be recognized.”

The network, available at cael.org, went live during the conference. It features a listing of U.S. education and training providers that offer credit for prior learning (CPL).

CAEL also is sharing the network with high schools, local and regional workforce boards, economic development boards, chambers of commerce, and military-affiliated institutions nationwide. The CPL Provider Network is viewable free of charge. 

Listing on the CPL Provider Network is free for all CAEL institutional members. Non-members can be listed in the CPL Provider Network for $1,000 annually. 

To complement the network’s focus on postsecondary education and training providers, CAEL will be amping up efforts to establish CPL as an employment and workforce development strategy, Buford also announced. “It's past time to embrace CPL's capacity to serve as a conduit, a conduit that connects two equally important and continual interchanging identities, adult learners and workers."

“By fitting these two halves together, we think we can be a lot more proactive about the importance of CPL,” he said. As businesses and colleges alike face recruiting challenges, CPL will be key to solving workforce needs, Buford stressed. He argued that CPL can boost the relevancy and effectiveness of college and corporate training and open new avenues to college completion while reducing the cost of education and their benefit programs.

In addition to unveiling the CPL Provider Network, Buford announced that the Washington, D.C. area would become the fourth of five regions to join CAEL’s Where It Starts: Build Better Careers Initiative. Funded by the Truist Foundation, “Where It Starts” is a six-year project to engage industry leaders, workforce development, and postsecondary education institutions to improve equitable access to rewarding career pathways in the financial services sector. CAEL will announce the fifth region early next year, Buford said.

Buford offered a final exclusive to the audience when he announced CAEL’s newest community of practice would be dedicated to military-connected learners. The community of practice builds on a long legacy of supporting veterans and their families. Free to CAEL members, it will bring together training providers, postsecondary institutions, employers, workforce organizations, chambers of commerce, and community-based organizations to share best practices, network, and collaborate on ways to better support veteran learners, workers, and their families.   

Members interested in joining should complete this interest form. The community will begin meeting in early 2025 and already has a dedicated virtual community on the CAEL Member Hub. 

The conference totaled more than 300 speakers, who addressed more than 125 sessions. Pressing themes like AI and other factors requiring closer alignment of education and workforce development dominated the events, from workshops to a packed final keynote, Serving the Rising Tide of Nontraditional, Working and Military Students. Held immediately before Friday’s closing rally, the event featured Mark Milliron, president and CEO of National University; Todd McKean, Director of environment and supply chain innovation at Apple; Kate Smith, president of Rio Salado College, and Christopher Graham, executive vice president of workforce and community education at National University. 

Attendees of CAEL’s 50^th annual conference can view recordings of Buford’s remarks and other keynotes and sessions at the virtual attendee hub for the next 90 days.

CAEL is grateful to all the sponsors that made its 50th annual conference possible, especially gold anniversary sponsors Walmart and AARP.