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Brandman University is taking a new approach to adult education, focusing on student competencies and work experience rather than transcripts when deciding which students to admit and when they graduate. Brandman already is working with companies, including Walmart and Discover, to offer employee-education programs. The Irvine, California-based nonprofit university accepts subject matter expertise and experience as course credit, making it easier for working adults to earn college degrees and advance their careers. At most conventional colleges, students must fulfill prerequisite courses to earn admission and a set of required courses to earn a degree. Under the Brandman approach, if an applicant has, say, a 20-year career in finance but no formal coursework in finance, "she can now test out of many course requirements, simply by proving her mastery through standard assessments, writing samples, even work projects," says the university's chief financial officer.