Who Accepts CLEP?

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You've bought the books, gone through weeks of study and preparation,  passed a CLEP test with flying colors, and then found out that your college won't even accept the credits you earned. What a letdown! A waste of energy, time, and money. You don't want this to happen to you, and that is why you have to know your college's CLEP policy! 

Don't worry, over 2,900 colleges do accept CLEP credits in one form or another. And thankfully the details aren't very hard to find out. For example, I selected a random local school--John Brown University--and just typed "CLEP policy" into the search box. The first result gave me this. By clicking on the link you can see a detailed example of this college's acceptance, or nonacceptance, of test credits. If you get a 50 or more on English Literature then you get 6 credit hours, while the same score on American Literature will only get you 3. This school doesn't even accept credits from the Freshman Composition with Essay or Natural Sciences CLEP. 

Here is an example of another college's CLEP policy. Once again, all I did to find it was use the search function on the homepage. Crowder College will only allow students to earn 15 credits through CLEP or other alternative learning experiences. They also do not accept Information Systems and Computer Applications, among others. 

Another thing to find out: some colleges require the essay portion of certain tests, others couldn't care less!

In the end, every school is different. The College Board has a search function that allows you to find out if the college of your choice accepts CLEP (find it here). However, it won't tell you the college's entire CLEP policy. For that you'll probably have to go to the college's own website. Alternatively, it's always a good idea to talk to your school's advisor for the most accurate, up-to-date information. 

                                                                                                               Happy CLEPing,     

What Does CLEP Test Cost?

Let's face it--college can get pretty expensive very quickly. Most of us want a higher education, but too few can afford it. CLEP can help with that! By supplementing your degree with test credits you can catapult yourself into an education that is ridiculously short and cheap. 


The broad cost breakdown is as follows:

• $77 to the College Board
• About $25 for the testing center fee
• $15+ for used textbooks bought online

So let's say you take the CLEP Principles of Marketing. You pass it and pick up 3 credits. What is the total cost per credit?

$39

And that's assuming that you don't take those books you bought and resell them for a profit.

What about the CLEP English Literature for 6 credits? The costs are still the same. So what does the dollar per credit look like now?

$19.50

Let's take this to the extreme and assume that you take the CLEP Spanish Language test for 12 credits (you have to score fairly high to get this amount, just passing gets you 6 credit). Now the price per credit is a whopping

$9.75

Excited yet?


Perhaps you're wondering what the average cost per credit is for the run-of-the-mill college. Well, it varies greatly, but here are a few figures.

• The typical two-year student spends about $2,713 for tuition per year, which works out to about $90 per credit hour for a 60 credit degree.
• 47% of all full-time undergraduate college students attend a four-year college for $9,000 or less per year for tuition and fees. With a bachelor's degree being 120 credits that's $300 or less.
• A private four-year college might charge as much as $35,000 or more in yearly tuition and fees. That comes out to about $1,166 or more per credit.
• Just for fun, we'll look at Harvard. You can get an undergraduate degree there for over $50,000, and that totals up to an astounding $1,666 or more per credit hour.

I hope that you see how valuable this is and how it can apply to your specific goals and aspirations! How can CLEP help you stick to your budget?

What is CLEP?

A CLEP (College Level Examination Program) test is a multiple-choice (a few have an essay question or two), computer based, 90-120 minute test that can earn you anywhere from 3-12 college credit hours. It was designed for people who have extensive knowledge of a subject outside the classroom and want to get college credit for it instead of sitting through a long, boring class learning something they already know more about than the professor.

However. 

The CLEP is also infinitely useful for

• High school graduates
• Homeschoolers
• Working parents
• International students coming to the U.S.
• Military service members 
• Those who are fluent in French, German, or Spanish and want credit for it 

The test is usually made up of 80-120 questions (depending on the subject). It is scored on a 20/80 scale and the typical required score for passing is 50. For most institutions you will not be awarded a grade for your test, it's just "win or lose," as it were. If you pass, you have just earned the same credits in a few minutes that Joe Smith over there worked an entire semester or two to get!

If you fail a test then it is almost as if it never happened, no record of failure will be kept on your transcript and you'll be able to take it again after 3 months.

And what is the best part of all this?

One test is $80.

You may have to pay a $25-$50 fee to the testing center where you take the CLEP, but the test itself is dirt cheap.

A CLEP test is in one of 33 subject areas:

Business

• Financial Accounting 3
• Business Law, Introductory 3
• Information Systems and Computer Applications 3
• Management, Principles of 3
• Marketing, Principles of 3

Composition and Literature

• American Literature 6
• Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 6
• College Composition 6
• College Composition Modular 3/6
• English Literature 6
• Humanities 6

Foreign Languages

• French Language, Level 1 6
• French Language, Level 2 12
• German Language, Level 1 6
• German Language, Level 2 12
• Spanish Language, Level 1 6
• Spanish Language, Level 2 12

History and Social Sciences

• American Government 3
• Educational Psychology, Introduction to 3
• History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877 3
• History of the United States II: 1865 to Present 3
• Human Growth and Development 3
• Macroeconomics, Principles of 3
• Microeconomics, Principles of 3
• Psychology, Introductory 3
• Social Sciences and History 6
• Sociology, Introductory 3
• Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648 3
• Western Civilization II: 1648 to Present 3

Science and Mathematics

• Biology 6
• Calculus 4
• Chemistry 6
• College Algebra 3
• College Mathematics 6
• Precalculus 3
• Natural Sciences 6

I'm sure that you can see why I can't wait to get more people excited about CLEPing!

The Road Not Taken

Hi! I'm Abigail (aka Abby) Rogers. I'm 18 years old, and I have 66 college credit hours. I live in Northwest Arkansas, have been home schooled all my life, and love reading, writing, cooking, eating, all-things-British, reading some more, and saving money. Years ago I wanted to get a college education quickly, easily, and affordably. Sound impossible to you?

It's not.

You may be wondering about the title of this blog. "What exactly does CLEP stand for?" you ask with a guilty waver in your voice. Don't feel bad. There are plenty of people who have either never heard of it or think of it only as a weird way to get out of a couple classes. What do I say it is? 

The College Level Examination Program is the secret to bypassing the typical freshman-year classes (that basically repeat what you learned in high school), and diving right into the meaty stuff that you really want to learn. I'm talking about experimenting, working on your own timetable, saving huge amounts of time and money, 

all by some simple, straightforward testing.

OK, you still have your misgivings. That's why I'm here. In the following weeks and months I'll share my personal experiences, guide you through the process, and show you how to make the most out of your money and study time. You don't have to forfeit a "real" college education, you can get away with far less debt and much more time to actually get out there and use what you've learned!

So the question is...are you ready to CLEP out of here?