Validate Prior Learning to Accelerate Employment Act

Adds competency-based assessments to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act so states, employers, and training providers can identify, validate, and share measures of people’s prior knowledge, skills, competencies, and work experience. States must coordinate with employers and training providers to develop or adopt validated assessments, make information about those assessments available through local workforce systems, and support employers in skills-based hiring and job descriptions.

Also adds competency-based assessments to the list of allowed local workforce activities and makes small technical updates to related clauses. The change is meant to help job seekers get credit for skills they already have and help employers hire for demonstrated skills rather than focusing only on degrees or titles.