Are alternative credits only an American thing?

[mojave]

They're literally only an American thing. Trying to "accelerate" your degree isn't really a thing that is done outside of the US. Not even regular CBE courses.

Granted, there are some minor exceptions. Apparently, some universities right now will sometimes accept MOOC courses as portfolio credit, even if it's not official policy to do so. Then there are schools like XAMK where they offer a number of self-paced low-cost options.

Aah! Interesting. I wonder why that is? A cultural thing, or perhaps because of US tuition costs its highly desired to accelerate? Honestly has me wanting to research the history of ACE credits.

I wonder if that means other universities in different countries won't recognize a lot of American degree.