CLEPing

by David and Laurie Callihan, TEACH Magazine

CLEPing (College Level Exam Program) is our favorite way for students to accumulate college credit. The CLEP program is administered by the College Board organization and they are administered in test centers at local colleges and at many Sylvan Learning Centers. Some colleges only administer exams to students matriculated at their school; other test centers are open for anyone. The exams are accepted for credit at over 2800 colleges and universities nationwide.

There are two types of CLEP tests: general and subject. Five general exams (social sciences and history, college mathematics, English composition, humanities, and natural sciences) cover courses found in the first two years of college. Each is worth as many as six college credits. The exams are worth three credits each and cover material found in individual undergraduate courses ranging from foreign languages to science to business. There are currently 27 different subject exams in five subject areas. Each exam costs $46, plus testing site fees (usually about $12).

CLEPs are 90 minutes long and multiple choice (except for an essay section on the English composition general exam). The student may prepare for the exam by purchasing or obtaining from a library the CLEP preparation manual for that exam. The manuals contain all of the necessary information as well as practice tests and test-taking tips. The exams are scored on a scale of points converted to a letter grade; however, when these credits are transferred they are generally done so in pass/fail format.

One word of caution, you should be sure to check with the college the student plans to attend to determine their policy on accepting CLEP credit. Each institution makes its own rules about how many CLEP credits they will accept, in which subjects, scores necessary for transfer, and where the tests must be taken. Most community colleges will award credit for CLEP exams, so if the student finishes the first two years at a community college, the sum of these credits will generally transfer (or constitute an Associates degree). In other words, there are usually ways to work within the system to obtain the desired end. You may actually want to choose a college or university specifically because of their policy to grant credits for CLEP.

The only other down-side of this form of accruing college credits is that it does require a motivated self-study program. Generally, the student will not have taken specific courses in the subject area of the test. With CLEPing, the student can take the test without having to sit through unnecessary classroom time. Those who want to take a class to prepare might as well take an A.P. course or a regular college class for credit. Instead, they will need to study the material on their own. Although CLEP exams are also used for giving credit for knowledge gained through life experience, in the homeschool situation this is usually not the case. It is possible, however, to take a CLEP at the end of high school study in a subject. For instance, Algebra I taken in high school covers the same material as is on the college algebra test. So if your child does well in Algebra I, we recommend he study for and take the college algebra CLEP which will give him college credit for his high school study time. Such a deal!

Some colleges or universities will charge a fee to transfer in credits, which is usually about $25 per credit. You may therefore end up paying about $130 for a 3-credit course, but realize that this same course would cost $225–$750 taken in the regular college setting.

So why have you not heard of CLEP exams? Obviously, colleges would rather charge you $300–$1800 to teach the same material! In the true spirit of homeschooling, we strongly recommend you investigate how CLEPs can help your student. For more information visit www.collegeboard.org/clep, call (609) 771-7865, write to CLEP, P.O. Box 6600, Princeton, NJ 08541-6000, e-mail clep@ets.org, or contact your local community college.

This article was first published in the Summer, 2001 issue of TEACH Magazine. www.TEACHMagazine.com 

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