Independent Electrical Contractors
Earn College Credits During Your Apprenticeship
IEC is committed to enhancing your career trajectory by offering college credits to students of the IEC Apprentice Program.
The Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc. (IEC) is proud to partner with the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT®) to offer college credit to students of IEC’s Apprenticeship program.
The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT®) has evaluated and recommended college credit for IEC’s Apprenticeship Program. Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation’s higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents and more than 200 related associations nationwide.
IEC apprentices can receive college credit for each of their four-year training program, up to 46 credit hours. This benefit will not only make earning a college degree a more affordable reality for you, it supports IEC’s belief in the importance of lifelong learning.
Digital Credentials
ACE has partnered with Credly, a leading digital credential provider, to supply IEC apprentices with digital “badges” that contain information about the training they have completed and the skills they have acquired.
Credly’s platform allows IEC apprentice students and graduates to send an official academic transcript directly to a college or university they are interested in attending. The transcript informs the institution of the recommended number of college credits to issue, as well as the educational level and subject areas of the courses or exams that student has completed.
IEC Apprentice program participants can also use the badges to tout their academic achievements on social media, in resumes, and more.
Important Information
Each institution has the sole discretion to determine whether it will accept ACE credit recommendations based on the degree program being applied to.
Per the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Apprenticeship record retention policies and requirements, IEC chapters are only required to maintain five years of student records. Please contact your local IEC chapter to verify your record and graduation information prior to submitting for ACE Transcript Services. If you participated in IEC’s Apprenticeship Program more than five years ago, IEC cannot guarantee your record will be on file.
It is important students read this since IEC National does not keep student records and chapters must verify in order to receive credit.
Questions? Contact Chrissy Skudera | cskudera@ieci.org
Get Your Future Started
Take these steps to move forward today!
- Contact your local IEC chapter to verify your student record is on file and all training documentation is complete.
- Complete the ACE College Credit Request form and submit it to your local IEC chapter to verify and sign, indicating that they certify the accuracy of the information provided.
- Send the completed request form to Chrissy Skudera, Sr. Director of Training and Curriculum Development, at cskudera@ieci.org.
- IEC National will upload your information to Acclaim and issue digital badge(s) for your IEC training.
- An email from the Acclaim Platform (admin@youracclaim.com) will be sent with instructions for claiming your badge and setting up your account.
- Once you have created your Acclaim account and accepted your IEC badge(s), you may then send a formal transcript to a college or university.
Each institution has the sole discretion to determine whether it will accept ACE credit recommendations based on the degree program you have applied to attend.
Per the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Apprenticeship record retention policies and requirements, IEC chapters are only required to maintain five years of student records. Please contact your local IEC chapter to verify your record and graduation information prior to submitting for ACE Transcript Services. If you participated in IEC’s Apprenticeship Program more than five years ago, IEC cannot guarantee your record will be on file.
ACE FAQs
Please find below frequently asked questions about Credly’s Acclaim Platform.
Q: What is an open badge?
Open badges are web-enabled versions of a credential, certification or learning outcome which can be verified in real-time, online.
Q: How does my certification get displayed as a badge?
IEC has partnered with ACE and Credly to translate the learning outcomes you’ve demonstrated into a badge, issued and managed through Credly’s Acclaim Platform. The technology Credly uses on its Acclaim Platform is based on the Open Badge Standards maintained by IMS Global. This enables you to manage, share and verify your competencies digitally.
Q: What are the benefits of a badge?
Representing your skills as a badge gives you a way to share your abilities online in a way that is simple, trusted, and can be easily verified in real-time. Badges provide employers and peers concrete evidence of what you had to do to earn your credential and what you’re now capable of. Credly’s Acclaim Platform also offers labor market insights, based on your skills. You can search and apply for job opportunities right through the Acclaim Platform.
Q: Who is Credly?
Credly is the end-to-end solution for issuing and managing digital credentials. Credly works with credible organizations to provide digital credentials to individuals, worldwide.
Q: How will I know if I’ve earned a badge?
You will receive an email notification from the Acclaim Platform (admin@youracclaim.com) with instructions for claiming your badge and setting up your account.
Q: What if I don’t want my badge to be public?
You can easily configure your privacy settings in the Acclaim Platform. You’re in complete control of the information about yourself that is made public.
Q: Is there a fee to use Credly’s Acclaim Platform?
No. This is a service we provide to you, at no cost.
Q: What’s to keep someone else from copying my badge and using it?
While badges are simply digital image files, they are uniquely linked to data hosted on Credly’s Acclaim Platform. This link to verified data makes them more reliable and secure than a paper-based certificate. It also eliminates the possibility of anyone claiming your credential and your associated identity.
Q: Where and how can I share my badge through Credly’s Acclaim Platform?
You can share your badge directly from the Acclaim Platform to LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook; over email; embedded in a website, or in your email signature.
Q: What are labor market insights and how can I access them through Credly’s Acclaim Platform?
Labor market insights are pulled from live job requisitions. Based on your skills you can learn which employers are hiring, what job titles you might be qualified for, salary ranges, and more. Search active job listings and even apply for them with just a few clicks through the Acclaim Platform. Access the labor market insights from your badge details page by clicking on Related Jobs, or by clicking on the skill tags assigned to your badge.
Q: Can I export badges issued through Credly’s Acclaim Platform to other badge-storing platforms?
Yes, you can download your badge from the Share Badge page. Your downloaded badge contains Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) compliant metadata embedded into the image. This allows you to store your badge on other OBI-compliant badge sites, such as the Mozilla backpack.
Q: Can I import badges issued from other platforms into Credly’s Acclaim Platform?
Not at this time.
Q: I have a question about the Acclaim Platform. Where can I find support?
You can find answers to frequently asked questions here: support.youracclaim.com
