Arkansas Fire Training Academy
AFTA students are able to earn college credit and credentials as they complete the required courses for Standards School and some other courses as identified in the AFTA & SAU Tech Opportunities for College Credit booklet. Students are able to also receive college credit for other AFTA courses that make up the degrees and certificates through Credit by Examination or Portfolio Assessment.
Credit by Examination
AFTA students may use this process to earn college credit and be awarded credentials for courses in which they were not enrolled for credit at the time they completed the courses through AFTA. The cost for Credit by Examination is $15 per credit hour and is not covered by the Fire Service Scholarship. This fee will be waived for students who completed classes and were not enrolled through SAU Tech at the time of completing courses between August 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024.
Students who would like to use this process should complete the Credit by Examination Request Form for each course for which he/she is requesting credit. This form is available through SAU Tech’s MyLaunchPad portal. Once the request has been received, SAU Tech and AFTA will complete the Credit by Examination Results Form and forward to the requesting student. The student should present this form to the SAU Tech Business Office and make payment. Payment can be made in person or by calling the Business Office. The receipt and form should then be presented to the Vice Chancellor for Academics who will sign the form and forward to the Registrar’s Office for posting the grades on the student’s SAU Tech transcript.
Portfolio Assessment
The student must complete the admissions process and enroll in the 1-credit hour online GS 1021 Portfolio Development course to have the requested credit hours posted to the SAU Tech transcript. The Portfolio Development course will assist the student in compiling evidence of learning. Evidence of learning will include completion of the Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) Fire Science Form for the courses for which the student is requesting credit and the AFTA transcript. Upon successful completion of the Portfolio Development course, approval of the portfolio, and completion or transfer of the general education courses for the A.A.S. and/or A.S. degree, the AFTA hours of credit will be applied to the transcript. No GPA will be earned for the AFTA hours. However, these hours can be applied toward completion of the A.A.S. and/or A.S. degrees.