How Long After a Clep Exam Can I Take It Again

Let's confront it: college tin can be expensive.

Sure, you can practice lots of things to get in cost less, including applying for scholarships. Just this doesn't change the fact that sometimes college costs more than you can beget.

A common solution to this trouble is to have out student loans. And as long every bit you lot don't borrow more than you tin can afford to pay back, student loans can be a good option.

But did y'all know that at that place'south another option for making college fifty-fifty cheaper?

It's called the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), which is a series of examinations that you can use to go credit for higher courses.

In this article, nosotros're going to take a look at what the CLEP plan is, and how it can help you get your degree faster while saving youthousandsin college costs. We'll also address some mutual questions students have about the CLEP program.

What Is CLEP?

CLEP stands for "College Level Test Program." It'south a set of tests developed and administered past the Higher Board.

You probably know the College Board if you've taken the SAT or AP Exams.

But you may not have heard of CLEP. If yous're still in loftier schoolhouse, this is understandable, as the CLEP tests are aimed at working adults who want to get a degree.

So what exactly are the CLEP tests? They're exams that exam your knowledge of a variety of bookish subjects. Many colleges and universities volition give you credit towards a degree for each CLEP exam you pass. (Though it depends on the higher and your major, as we'll discuss below).

CLEP exams are divided into 5 primary subject area areas:

• Limerick and Literature
• World Languages
• History and Social Sciences
• Science and Mathematics
• Business organization

Within each subject area, you tin can take the following exams:

Composition and Literature

• American Literature
• Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
• College Limerick
• Higher Limerick Modular
• English Literature
• Humanities

Globe Languages

• French Language: Levels 1 and ii
• German language Linguistic communication: Levels 1 and 2
• Spanish Language: Levels ane and 2

History and Social Sciences

• American Government
• History of the U.s.a. I
• History of the United States II
• Human Growth and Evolution
• Introduction to Educational Psychology
• Introductory Psychology
• Introductory Sociology
• Principles of Macroeconomics
• Principles of Microeconomics
• Social Sciences and History
• Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648
• Western Civilization II: 1648 to the Nowadays

Science and Mathematics

• Biology
• Calculus
• Chemistry
• Higher Algebra
• Higher Mathematics
• Natural Sciences
• Precalculus

Concern

• Financial Bookkeeping
• Information Systems
• Introductory Business Law
• Principles of Management
• Principles of Marketing

Why Take CLEP Exams?

So what's the advantage of taking CLEP tests as opposed to a full college course? There are two main advantages:

1. Cost
2. Fourth dimension

1. CLEP Exams Salve You Money

Starting with the cost, CLEP exams are much cheaper than a full college class. Each exam costs $87 (plus an administrative fee of around $25 mostly charged by the testing eye).

Considering that the average cost per credit hour is $325 at a public university, CLEP exams can save you a lot of money.

Each test has a study guide that costs around $ten, or you lot can become a study guide for all 33 subject areas for $25. You tin can also discover the prep books for costless at your local library.

Even if you took all 33 CLEP tests, information technology would only cost you $three,696 (this assumes a $25 authoritative fee for each test, only to be safe).

This is a significant savings compared to tuition for even one semester at a 4-twelvemonth public university, which averages $iv,705.

In exercise, of course, you would never take all the CLEP tests. But the fact remains that they tin can salve you a lot of money.

2. CLEP Exams Save Yous Time

Money is a valuable resource, but time is even more valuable. CLEP tests tin can assistance y'all get a degree much faster than the traditional higher path.

The conventional amount of fourth dimension to get an undergraduate degree is four years, though it tin have many students every bit long as six years.

If yous just need a degree to get a amend job, then iv–6 years is much too long to look. With the right CLEP tests and undergraduate program, you could go your degree in equally little as a year (or even less).

How to Apply CLEP Exams to Become College Credit

Now that you lot sympathize the benefits of the CLEP program, let's get into the details of how to use information technology to earn college credit. This procedure has several steps:

1. Find a University That Accepts CLEP
2. Plan Your Courses
3. Prep for the CLEP Exams
4. Schedule and Take Your CLEP Exams
5. Transfer Your CLEP Credits
6. Earn Your Degree

Let'due south take a expect at each of these in turn.

one. Find a Academy That Accepts CLEP

This is a crucial first footstep. In that location's no bespeak in taking CLEP tests if you lot can't transfer your passing scores for credit. Afterward all, the goal here is to get your degree ASAP, not to get bogged down in the individual details of the tests themselves.

Therefore, you demand to find a university that volition permit yous employ CLEP tests to skip as much class piece of work as possible. The all-time mode to do this is to perform a quick google search.

For instance, let's say that I'm looking for colleges that have CLEP credit in my home city of Nashville. All I have to practise is google "colleges that accept CLEP Nashville." Here'southward the result I get:

As you tin see, it appears there are several colleges right in my city that will accept CLEP credit.

Once you've institute a few schools that appear to accept CLEP, your side by side step is to examine their websites in more than particular to find out what their exact policies are.

After that, y'all should contact the person at the higher who handles transfer credits or not-traditional students.

It's crucial to brand contact with a real person, as the data on the university's website may not always exist upwards to appointment.

Having a existent contact on the ground tin can also help y'all with any questions or problems that may come up up in the process of transferring your CLEP credits.

2. Plan Your Courses

Planning your coursework is an essential footstep for any college student, simply it's especially important if you're going to utilise CLEP tests to skip certain courses.

To start, you'll need to decide on a major. Choosing a major is a whole different topic, simply if your overall goal is just to get an undergraduate degree in something,then we recommend picking a subject that won't require lots of lab or field work.

Degrees with lots of "practical" components will require you to spend more than time at the university, making them more than hard to expedite using CLEP tests.

Using the information on the website of the university where you want to transfer your credits, you should now plan out which CLEP tests y'all'll need to accept.

As well, make note of the courses that you can'tskip and will have to take online or in person. This way, you don't get the unpleasant surprise of learning that you need to have two more semesters of coursework when you lot thought you were ready to graduate.

One time yous've figured out the above, make a list of the CLEP tests yous'll need to pass. Put the cost adjacent to each, then add upwards those costs plus the costs of administrative fees and additional courses you'll need to cease your degree. This volition give you a comprehensive cost for your caste.

You may be a bit surprised by how much information technology costs, but remember that y'all don't accept to come up up with this coin all at one time.

You can pay for each CLEP test as you have it, and in the concurrently you tin can save the larger sums you lot'll demand to pay for the university courses. If saving that much money sounds daunting, bank check out our budgeting guide for some savings tips.

three. Prep for the CLEP Exams

Taking tests can really suck, especially if yous've been out of school for a few years. But luckily, there are lots of resources to help y'all pass the CLEP exams.

Remember that the key give-and-take hither ispass.As long every bit it's high enough to meet the university's standards, your specific score doesn't affair. It won't affect your final GPA or be reflected on your transcript. From a practical perspective, a passing score on a CLEP exam is the aforementioned equally a perfect score.

To report for each examination, you should first get the official study guide that the College Board offers. You tin can buy these books on the Higher Board website for a small fee, or yous can find them for gratuitous at your local public library.

Be sure to take the included practice tests, equally they'll aid you appraise what y'all need to written report farther.

While the official prep books are the all-time place to start your studies, y'all don't have to stop there. Y'all should consult whatsoever relevant resources for the subject that the examination covers. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Online tools – Permit's say you're trying to pass the College Algebra CLEP exam. You could use a tool like Brilliant or Khan Academy to go a amend understanding of the concepts (and practice them, too).
• Crash Form – This is a fairly specific recommendation, just it can be a lifesaver for typically "slow" subjects similar economics, history, or chemistry. Each Crash Course video serial is taught by an good in a fun, informative fashion accompanied by delightful animations and concise explanations.
• Friends and family – Have a friend who's a math whiz? See if you can get them to tutor you in substitution for lunch, java, or whatever arrangement makes sense.
• Modernistic States – Want at bit more guidance? Modern States offers free online courses to set you to pass CLEP and AP Exams.

4. Schedule Your CLEP Exams

Okay, then you've studied hard and you're fix to have the exam. Your next step is to schedule the exam.

To do this, you'll first need to find a local CLEP testing middle. Luckily, the College Lath has a tool on their website that volition help you discover a testing eye based on your location.

To use this tool, visit the Find a Test Center page . Once you're there, yous'll see a grade like the one below:

To find a exam center, enter your country, state, city, and nix code (the last two are optional, just they'll assistance make your search more precise). You tin can also specify a search radius, which is 25 miles by default:

In one case y'all've done that, hit "Search." You'll so be able to see a list of exam centers in your area:

Along with the proper noun and location of each testing center, yous'll also see information about the accessibility of the examination centers:

• Test centers may be marked "Open," which ways that anyone who has registered for a examination tin take it there.
• Others are marked "Limited," which means that simply students enrolled at the institution can accept CLEP tests there. This is often the case with high schools.
• Finally, you lot may see some centers marked "Fully-funded," which means that eligible U.South. military service members can accept CLEP tests in that location without having to pay an administrative fee. Indeed, armed services members can oft take CLEP tests completely for costless, as nosotros'll cover in a later section.

Once you've constitute a testing heart you like, you need to annals for and schedule the test.

This office is a bit confusing, every bit information technology requires y'all to first annals for the exam on the College Board website and so contact your preferred testing middle to set a date for you to accept the test.

To register for the exam, visit this page and select the exam(s) you lot want to register for:

Once you've fabricated your selections, click "Add to Cart":

Click "View Cart and Checkout" when yous're set to pay:

From this folio, click on "Annals and Checkout":

The site volition and then prompt you to sign in. If yous don't accept a College Board account, you'll need to create ane. You can do this by clicking where it says "Sign Up":

After yous've signed in, you'll need to pay for the exams. You lot can do this using any major credit or debit card.

Congrats! Y'all've registered for the tests. Now, y'all need to contact the testing center to schedule them.

Yous can detect contact info for the testing middle you desire to utilize dorsum on the list of testing centers we looked at before. Many testing centers will let you register online, though some may require you to register over the phone.

five. Take Your CLEP Exams

With the exams scheduled and your studying complete, yous've at present reached the critical moment: examination mean solar day. Here's what you tin can expect when you show up to the test middle:

• You'll take the exam on a computer.
• Each exam typically takes 90–120 minutes.
• Be sure to print your registration ticket from inside your College Board business relationship.
• Also, make certain to bring authorities-issued identification that includes your photograph and signature. Typically, this will be either your driver'south license or passport, though military ID, dark-green cards, and other forms of ID may exist acceptable. Yous can view a full list of adequate IDs hither.
• Yous'll be able to view your score instantly, unless yous're taking an exam that includes a writing portion, such as College Composition. Scores for exams with writing portions will be available within 2–3 weeks.

To ensure that you do well on the test, get plenty of sleep the night before. Don't stay upwards belatedly to cram — it doesn't work. For more info on constructive test-taking, check out our massive collection of study information.

6. Transfer Your CLEP Credits

Assuming you passed the test, now it'due south time to transfer your credits to the institution of your option.

Ideally, y'all'll know which institution you want to send your scores toearlieryou register for the exam.

This is beneficial because each test you register for includes one complimentary "score transport." That is, when you lot register for a CLEP test, you can choose the institution that yous desire to receive your score. You'll see this option during the registration process, which we discuss to a higher place.

If y'all want to ship your scores after you lot accept the exam, or you want to send your scores to more than ane establishment, you tin do so for an boosted $20 (per transcript you order).

You'll demand to sign in to your College Lath account, and then click the "Request a Transcript" button under the "My CLEP Account" dropdown menu.

A few of import notes on transferring credits:

• Different institutions will have different minimum scores required to receive credit for each exam. You tin can mostly detect this information on the college/academy's website. You can also get this info straight from the person in charge of transfer admissions.
• To club a transcript for a CLEP exam funded by DANTES, you'll need to use the Parchment Transcript Ordering Service. You cannot use your Higher Board account.

vii. Earn Your Degree

If you've made it this far (both in the article and in the process), congrats! You lot're well on your way to earning your degree.

To reiterate, brand sure to check with your college/university about all the requirements for earning your caste.

CLEP exams volition assist you expedite the procedure, but there will however be a few courses that you demand to take either online or in-person. Be sure to review the caste requirements closely.

CLEP Exams FAQ

This department includes answers to some common questions near CLEP exams. Feel gratuitous to come back to this section equally questions arise.

1. What is DANTES?

DANTES stands for "Defense Action for Non-Traditional Pedagogy Support."

This is a plan that allows eligible military personnel (every bit well as eligible spouses and civil service employees) to accept CLEP exams for gratis or at a reduced cost.

You'll besides exist able to receive a costless written report guide for each test that you register for.

Eligible persons include:

• Armed services personnel:
  • Army
  • Navy
  • Marine Corps
  • U.Southward. Coast Guard
  • Ground forces Reserve
  • Air Force Reserve
  • Marine Corps Reserve
  • Navy Reserve
  • Coast Guard Reserve
  • Air National Guard
• Spouses of Coast Guard (agile and reserve)
• Noncombatant employees of Air Force

By and large, you'll need to take your CLEP exams at either a military base of operations or fully-funded test eye in order to get all the fees (including administrative fees) waived.

To find a fully-funded test center virtually y'all, look for the "Fully funded" tag side by side to test center names.

See the image below for an example:

To larn more about DANTES, visit the College Board's Armed services Benefits page.

3. What's the difference betwixt AP and CLEP?

AP stands for "Advanced Placement." Information technology'south a program that aims to help high students take college-level courses while still in high school.

The goal is to help students be better prepared for higher, skip introductory college classes, or even earn college credit if the university allows it.

Generally, your high school will offer courses specifically to ready you lot to take the AP Examination.

Information technology is possible to have the exams without taking the accompanying course, though this isn't common. AP Exams are only offered once a year in May.

CLEP, in contrast, is aimed more at working professionals looking to get a degree. CLEP exams are offered yr-round at a variety of locations.

iv. Can I take CLEP tests while I'1000 in high school?

Certain! As long as you can pay the fee and attend the examination, you tin can have information technology.

If you're interested in earning college credit while in high schoolhouse, nosotros as well recommend seeing if your school offers dual enrollment (a manner to take higher courses for free at a local university or customs higher).

5. How do I contact CLEP?

You can phone call CLEP at800-257-9558 (212-237-1331 if you're exterior of the U.S.).

You can besides email them at[email protected].

6. What schools take CLEP?

There are over two,900 colleges and universities that will give you credit for CLEP tests.

Your best bet is to look at which local colleges and universities will give you credit, as attending in-country schools tends to exist cheapest.

7. Practice CLEP exams count towards your GPA?

No, they do not. As long as you get the minimum score that your institution requires, you volition receive course credit. And remember: your GPA is non the nigh important matter when it comes to getting a task.

8. Can y'all CLEP your way to a degree?

Aye, it is possible, though passing CLEP exams volition not get you a caste past itself.

To become a degree, you need to notice a academy that will allow you lot to transfer the credits you earn through CLEP tests.

You'll then need to pay the necessary fees to enroll as a student at that academy and get your credits transferred. Once you lot do this, you tin can then graduate from the university and receive your degree.

If you're looking for an accredited university that will let you do this, a popular selection is Excelsior University. They don't have residency requirements for receiving degrees, and they let y'all transfer upward to 117 credits.

You'll all the same have to take a 3-credit capstone course and a 1-credit information literacy course before they'll grant you a degree (their generic "Liberal Arts" degree). Just the savings of this are withal massive compared to getting a regular degree.

Of course, Excelsior is merely one example. Lots of state universities will allow you do something like, and you can even have all your required courses online so that you lot don't have to commute.

9. How many CLEP credits are accustomed?

This depends on the university and the degree program. In theory, y'all could use CLEP exams to get almost all the required credits for your degree.

A more realistic scenario would be using them to skip all your general education courses, pregnant yous could spend your time taking classes in your major. This could easily allow you become your caste in half the time.

ten. How many credits are CLEP tests worth?

This is ultimately upwardly to the university you transfer them to, but a passing score on a CLEP exam is generally worth between iii and 6 credit hours.

11. How much do CLEP exams cost?

Each exam costs $87, regardless of subject. In improver, most CLEP test centers charge a $25 administrative fee.

12. Can you retake a CLEP test?

Yous tin can take CLEP tests every bit many times as you lot want (though you'll accept to pay the $87 fee each time).

Likewise, people who qualify for DANTES funding should be aware that DANTES will only pay the fees for your outset attempt at a CLEP test. You'll accept to pay for subsequent attempts out of your own pocket.

CLEP Is a Marathon, Not a Dart

Nosotros've covered a lot of material in this article, and we hope you establish it helpful.

If using CLEP tests to earn your caste seems overwhelming, remember that you don't have to practise everything at one time.

The beauty of the CLEP programme is that you can utilise it to earn and transfer credits onyour schedule.

If yous're almost to take a CLEP exam, we wish you the all-time of luck. Earning your degree is possible, and the opportunities information technology can unlock brand it worth the fourth dimension and effort.

Image Credits: featured

collickslosim1983.blogspot.com

Source: https://collegeinfogeek.com/clep/

Share :