[barcotta]

I believe that both Excelsior and Thomas Edison provide credit for prior learning. I investigated the portfolio process briefly and decided against it--primarily because, as you observed, it seemed like a lot of work--with no guaranteed outcome. Additionally, Excelsior requires you to pay to take a course in portfolio creation prior to submission. So for me, it came up short on both the time and money fronts.

I had a pretty straight shot at some Human Resources credits as I had participated in the creation of a Policies and Procedures Manual. So, I had something tangible I could have used. As I recall, I would also needed to assemble statements from various people vouching for my involvement and then, of course, actually create the portfolio.

Compare that to studying for a CLEP, DSST or ECE exam with their well-trodden paths and a month or so later, three credits in the bag. In fact, overall, if I had it all to do again, I would have minimized every activity that wasn't studying for or taking a test. To me, that's the key to efficiently completing a degree.

Having said that, there are many people, some on this forum, for whom the portfolio assessment process worked well. You might try doing a search on the forum to see what you can find.