A national system is described that was designed to facilitate a college's task of relating formal course work taken elsewhere to its own programs. The project builds on the system established by the American Council on Education (ACE) in 1945 to provide credit recommendations for formal military courses, and uses experience gained in a New York pilot study in early 1974. It focuses on the adult learner who studies in programs sponsored by government agencies, business and industry, unions, and professional and voluntary associations. The process involves the application of policies and criteria, jointly established by the Council's Commission on Educational Credit and the New York Board of Regents, by teams of subject specialists who generate credit recommendations for the courses, if appropriate. The results are sent to the participating organization and to colleges and universities. The organization sponsoring the courses operates a transcript system to report the individual's performance in the course to colleges. The major objectives of the first two years of the project were to develop and refine criteria and procedures for selecting appropriate courses and programs and in conducting course reviews, establishing policies and procedures as a basis for a national self-supporting system, and developing a system to disseminate project information and results. Appended is a handbook on conducting course reviews, agreements between ACE and the Consortium of California State University and Colleges and between ACE and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, newspaper articles, and a pamphlet on the program. (SW)