The Idea of Using CLEP Exams to Advance Your Education

A recent trend among parents hoping to get their children a head start on their collegiate education has been the idea of Advanced Placement Exams as well as CLEP for college credit. If you have not heard of the idea behind this, you and your child are missing out on a potentially wonderful opportunity which will save both time and money. A CLEP test can help them earn college credit or even an entire degree without lever leaving the home.

The CLEP test and the AP test are the two most widely accepted credit-by-examination programs in the United States. Nearly every college and university awards credit for satisfactory scores on these exams. The Advanced Placement courses are usually designed to fit the educational level for the above-average student, while the CLEP is broader. This actually makes it more popular and beneficial all around. It can potentially benefit the average student and the non-traditional adult education student.

CLEP is a test that your student can take that if passed allows them to gain college credit. Much like the more commonly known AP exam given to high school juniors and seniors, CLEP study lets a student achieve college credit from passing a simple test on a variety of different subjects such as English, Math, and Spanish.

Participating in a CLEP study saves both time and money, plus also helps the student discover the type of specialized courses they may be interested in studying. A CLEP test is a chance for them to demonstrate they possess a college level understanding of course based off of prior studies, professional experience, cultural pursuits and background or independent studies. These tests reward the student for all of their hard work with either course credit, course exemption, or even advanced placement toward their degree. Any one of these can save them up to a semester or year of college. Then it saves a great deal of money on college credits. It isn't out of the ordinary for a student to earn as much as two years of college credit from high CLEP scores.

Another positive note about the CLEP is that students are not limited to amount of times they can take the exam or how many exams they can sign up for. If you want to take four different CLEP test, then by all means, do so. They only drawback is some colleges have a limit on the maximum number of credits they will grant towards a degree. It is best to check with the policy of the school you plan on attending.

The scoring of a CLEP test normally is within two to three days. Once the test is scored, you are mailed a report which states your score and the college you are sending the results to. If your school is a member of the CLEPLUS program, the scoring is done immediately on campus.

CLEP study and the exams are given all year, except for the English composition with Essay. This CLEP test is only offered in January, April, June and October. Another important note is that each college has their own CLEP study schedule.

Wayne Hemrick is dedicated to higher education. In this article he writes about the clep test.