Central to the purpose of this study was the investigation and expansion of the concept and practice of experimental learning in the state of Iowa. As defined in the content of this study, experimental learning infers college-level learning that takes place outside the direct sponsorship of a credit awarding institution;This study was designed to investigate and compare post-secondary students that had requested credit for their life experiences as well as public and private institutions in Iowa that provide post-secondary education. From information and data gathered, this study has identified the institutions in Iowa that award credit for experiential learning and described the characteristics of the nontraditional student;The direct contribution of this research was presented in data collected from two survey instruments. One instrument was sent to 57 selected public and private institutions in Iowa and the other sent to 163 experiential learning students. The institutional survey was designed to expand upon background information, credit for experiential learning and credit by portfolio. The second instrument surveyed 163 students and requested specific information in the areas of background information, educational experience and experiential learning;Of the 45 institutions that responded, 15 were two-year public colleges, three were four-year public institutions, 22 were four-year private colleges and five were private specialty institutions. The 102 students that responded consisted of 67 from two-year community colleges and 35 from four-year private colleges;The study found that the only significant difference between students attending public and private institutions was that more males were attending two-year public colleges while more females attended the four-year private colleges. From the data analyzed, public and private institutions utilize similar assessment systems. However, when compared to the national percentage of 98 percent, Iowa had only 64.4 percent of the responding institutions that awarded credit for experiential learning.