Everything You Need To Know About The CLEP Exam

For more than 40 years, College Board has been providing the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) exam series to help students earn college credit with their existing knowledge. In the following sections, learners interested in using this method to bypass introductory classes can learn what the CLEP entails, how much it costs, when it can be taken and how to prepare.

The CLEP series provides students the opportunity to gain college credit, save money, move into advanced coursework more quickly and ultimately graduate faster. In fact, 50 percent of CLEP learners earned their degree within seven years, compared to only 21 percent of their peers who had no prior-learning experience.

In partnership with the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) program, active service members, spouses and civilian employees of many branches of the military can take CLEP exams and have the $85 fee waived. These examinees are eligible to take the exam at off-base and on-base centers, but many of the off-base centers do require them to pay a separate administrative free that’s often covered at on-base testing locations.

Before deciding to take a CLEP exam, prospective examinees probably have a few questions about how it is formatted and what to expect on testing day.

Before diving into the process, students should familiarize themselves with the logistics of taking a CLEP exam, including where they can be taken, how the sign-up process works and how they should prepare for exam day.

The level of mastery a student has of a particular subject will greatly dictate how much studying is needed before sitting the exam. Here are some of the best ways to prepare:

The pros of CLEP exams include saving tons of money and time. The first two years of college are largely a repeat of high school. When studying a subject, why not study once and get credit for it?

At our local community college, a three-credit course costs between $600-700 (and that is much less than at a four-year college or university). A CLEP exam costs around $100 when considering examination and administrative fees. That is an incredible savings! And for kids who don’t particularly love school, CLEP exams are an incentive to study once and be done.

There are two main cons of CLEP testing as I see it. One, it requires a good amount of self-motivation to study and prepare for the tests, and not all students possess this. Secondly, and a larger concern, is that many colleges don’t accept very many credits by exam.

It can often take some digging on a college’s website to find their policy on accepting CLEP credits. In Minnesota, a number of years ago our Governor got a law passed that requires all schools in the State University System to accept an unlimited number of credits by exam. In my experience looking at schools around the country, the more prestigious a university is, the fewer CLEP credits they will accept.

That depends on the student. My oldest son graduated high school with 18 CLEP/DSST credits. My younger son is a junior and currently has 36 credits by exam. To answer the question of how many exams a student should take, the first consideration must be what the student’s goals are. Knowing the policies of the college/program they plan to attend after high school will guide how many credits they seek to gain.

My advice would be: DO IT! By getting credits by exam you are giving yourself a self-awarded scholarship to college.