College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams allows learners of any age the opportunity to demonstrate college level of knowledge through successfully passing a course examination. The learner can take an exam which may be computer based or paper based, depending on the test and the testing center.

Colleges have their own acceptance policy for accepting CLEP exams. Some colleges only accept a certain amount of credits from examinations; some will only accept examinations that were taken while the learner was enrolled in the college.

There are some colleges that have no limits on the amount of credit received through examinations. For instance Excelsior University in Albany New York and Thomas Edison State College of Trenton New Jersey are no residency colleges that accept 100% credits from examinations. These are fully regionally accredited colleges that will get you into graduate school.  

There are many reasons learners want to take CLEP exams:

1. It saves time! Learners can take these exams with knowledge they might have learned elsewhere, for instance in High School. (Why don’t high schools offer CLEP exams to learners therefore making going to college easier especially for poor learners)?
2. It saves money! CLEP exams only cost $65. That is much cheaper than most courses, even at many community colleges.
3. Satisfy a proficiency requirement! How many learners have questioned the need to take a course that they don’t believe fits into their college goals?

Here is a brief list of subjects available through CLEP examinations:

Composition and Literature:

§         American Literature

§         Analyzing and Interpreting Literature

§         English composition

§         English Literature

§         Freshman College Composition

§         Humanities

Foreign Languages

§         French Language (levels 1 and 2)

§         German Language  (levels 1 and 2)

§         Spanish Language  (levels 1 and 2)

History and Social Sciences

§         American Government

§         Human Growth and Development

§         Introduction to Educational Psychology

§         Introductory Psychology

§         Introductory Sociology

§         Principles of Macroeconomics

§         Principles of Microeconomics

§         Social Sciences and History

§         US History I: Early colonization to 1877

§         US History II: 1865 to the present

§         Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648

§         Western Civilization II: 1648 to the Present

Science and Mathematics

§         Biology

§         Calculus

§         Chemistry

§         College Algebra

§         College Mathematics

§         Natural Sciences

§         Precalculus

Business

§         Financial Accounting

§         Introductory Business Law

§         Information Systems and Computer Applications

§         Principles of Management

§         Principles of Marketing

There are enough CLEP exams available for a learner to earn an associates degree, if not a Bachelor’s degree.

Taking CLEP exams require discipline. It requires learners to practice adult learning principles and self-study. Study aids are available for free at many different sites. There are also books available at many book stores that contain practice exams.

For more information visit:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html

http://www.tesc.edu

http://www.excelsior.edu

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