When you enroll in the IBCLC health science prerequisite courses at other institutions, you are most likely getting “term-based” courses. This means they are taught on a normal term schedule with regular assignments and deadlines, with an instructor leading the class. You have a set amount of time to complete each assignment and must finish the course by the end of the term. Walden’s Lactation Consultant Health Science courses are different – you work through them at your own pace, with no set deadlines. Within the course, you will complete assessments (usually written assignments) on your own schedule and submit them as a set for review by a faculty assessor. These assessments are essentially the same as those you would submit in a regular term-based course. When you pass, you receive academic credit on your transcript.

Financial Aid cannot be applied to courses taken as a non-degree-seeking student through the School of Lifelong Learning. This includes both single for-credit courses and non-credit courses such as the Lactation Consultant Health Science prerequisite courses.

Each course detail page tells you which Walden course you can receive credit for after completing the requirements for articulation. If you have already received credit for a course at another university, you do not need to complete it again. Only purchase the courses you have yet to complete at any university.

Articulation Chart:

The Lactation Consultant Health Science Courses each have between four and seven “units.” Each unit provides readings from an online textbook, library articles, and/or websites. Some also have videos and interactive learning activities. Most units have at least one short quiz to help you check your knowledge. Then, each unit has a formal assessment. These vary in format and are explained in more detail next.

Any textbook or other course materials that are required for the course is provided in the online classroom and included in the course fee. It will not be necessary to purchase additional books or materials.

Each course has one assessment per unit. Most take the form of a written assignment, often a practical task like creating a slide presentation or an informational flyer. Some written assignments involve simply writing out a paragraph or two in answer to a series of questions, often based on a real-world scenario. Two courses – Interpersonal Communication and Biology – have unit assessments composed of 20 multiple-choice questions. The type of assessment is consistent in each course; in other words, Biology has only multiple-choice quizzes, while Nutrition has only written assignments.

No, you can work through the course content entirely at your own pace.

Once you have purchased a course you will have access to the online course for 180 days (6 months).

Please contact lifelonglearning@mail.waldenu.edu for options.

The workload for a 5 quarter credit college course is approximately 30 hours. Because these courses do not have weekly assignments you may be able to complete it in less time. At the same time, you may need to dedicate more time than estimated to complete all the assessments. The amount of time you will need to dedicate to each class will depend on many factors and may vary.

There is no limit to how many courses you can work on at one time. How many you take at once will depend on the amount of time you have available and how quickly you want to work.

No, these courses do not have an instructor. For the courses with written assessments, a faculty assessor will review your submissions and score them according to the Scoring Guide that’s provided with each assessment. For questions about the online classroom or the process of receiving academic credit please contact lifelonglearning@mail.waldenu.edu.

Once you have completed all of the Lactation Consultant Health Science courses you plan to take at Walden and received your Certificates of Achievement, please contact the School of Lifelong Learning Enrollment Team at NonDegreeSLL@mail.waldenu.edu. A dedicated Enrollment Specialist will provide you with complete instructions on how to apply for academic credit and request a transcript, which you may need to meet certification or licensure requirements. There is no additional cost for this phase of the process, other than any standard official transcript fees.

For courses with multiple-choice assessments you have three attempts to pass, with a score of 70% or above. Multiple-choice assessments are scored automatically. You will find out immediately if you need to retake one.

Each unit that requires a written assessment includes a link to submit your document(s). Your written assessment can then be accessed by the faculty assessor and be scored against the Scoring Guide.

Your written assessment should be scored within 3 working days and your score recorded in the online classroom’s Grades area. You will receive a notification when your assessment has been scored.

You can revise and resubmit that assessment. If your revision still does not meet the evaluation criteria, you have the option of taking the full course with an instructor. You do need to pass all the assessments for one course to receive academic credit.

It helps to be able to write in a clear and comprehensible manner, but written assessments are not scored based on writing ability (grammar, spelling, etc.) only on your ability to demonstrate an understanding of the concepts. It is important that your work is your own; plagiarism (passing off someone else’s work as your own) is not acceptable. It’s also important that the faculty assessor can read and understand your work.

Scoring Guides are provided with the assessment instructions (or built into a provided template). Always review the Scoring Guide and make sure you have covered all assessment requirements.

The academic credit you receive on your Walden transcript will be recorded as a passing grade, not as a letter grade.

Please visit https://academicanswers.waldenu.edu/faq/335315. You may need to follow the instructions for accessing the website of the Parchment transcription service directly.

Possibly. The credit you will earn from these courses will be counted as “transfer credit” from the School of Lifelong Learning. Some institutions may accept this credit, others may not. Walden cannot make any guarantees about the transferability of credit earned through any of its programs to other institutions.

Yes, all the credits you would receive for the Lactation Consultant Health Science courses can be applied to Walden’s BS in Health Studies, as well as other programs. Talk to an enrollment advisor for more information.