The CLEP Test: How to Get College Credit From Anywhere
Posted on 02. Dec, 2009 by Cap'n Ko in Education, Home School, Online Learning Sites, Online Services, Technology
Why hasn’t anyone told me about the CLEP test before? After finding about more about it, and reading article after article of “Best Kept Secret in education,” I realized that there wasn’t much out there in terms of telling people why they should consider CLEP Tests. No matter who you are, as long as you’re interested in college, there’s no excuse not to take a look. First, let’s talk about CLEP and what CLEP is.
What are the CLEP Tests?
CLEP stands for “College Level Examination Program.” Basically, CLEP is a series of tests that get you credits at over 2900 different colleges. That’s a pretty good number, and I imagine that number is growing. Subjects are mostly pretty low level (you’ll see things like College Algebra, Psychology, English Composition, and more) and will get you anywhere from 3-6 credits each test.
Now, when you look at how much a CLEP test will cost to take ($72), and compare that to how much it would be to take that same class at, say University of Pheonix (which would probably run you $1200 or so), you’re getting yourself quite the bargain. Even if you add in study materials and programs (which I’ll talk about later in this post), that’s one heckuva deal.
Getting credit alone isn’t the best part about CLEP, though. It almost makes me wish I was 16 again (with the brain I have today, because I wasn’t all that smart back then). Let’s talk about CLEP and who I think can benefit most from these tests:
Who Should Take the CLEP Test?
This is the part that gets me really excited, and also the part that makes me regret 1-2 years of my life (oh well).
The Highschooler:
Say you’re in high school. It probably didn’t seem like you had a lot of extra time (but you did, and you know it). Just imagine if you studied for the CLEP exam during high school and took (and passed) as many CLEP Tests as possible. By the time you graduate from High School, CLEP can get you 2 years of college out of the way. That means you start in your third year of college, and you don’t have to take all the lower level classes. Even if you wanted to stay in college all four years, just imagine all of the great classes you’d be able to take since you’d already have the basic stuff out of the way. There’s also AP and IB testing, but not every school has this. I’d go CLEP all the way.
Benefits: Skip 2 years of college, get ahead, save a ton of money
The Traveler:
This is the one that I really wish I could have done. I had a big ball of cash in my bank account from graduation gifts. I regret not seeing the world and taking CLEP studies with me. I could have taken 1-2 years off from school, studied for CLEP while I backpacked around the world, and then came back to the states and passed the CLEP exams. From there, I’d rejoin college, and never be behind (but have two awesome years of traveling behind my belt, another educational wonder all on its own). The only thing that was keeping me from traveling was college, but CLEP can cancel this problem out (but only if you know about it – be sure to tell your graduating high school friends and relatives!).
Benefits: Travel the world, take a break for 1-2 years, re-join school and never fall behind
People in the Military:
I think most people that know about CLEP are probably in the military. It’s quite a popular thing to study for, and a lot of people get their CLEP studying paid for (and it’s free for military to take the test). Whether you’re in your home country, or in Iraq, you can study for CLEP, pass the tests, and come back after your service ahead in school. That way you don’t have to miss as much of your educational life, especially if you joined the military to get your education paid for in the first place! Definitely a really smart move for anyone in the military.
Benefits: Study from anywhere (even a war zone), don’t fall behind in school just because you’ve been away
Stay at Home Parents:
I know there are a lot of people who can’t go to school because they have a wonderful kid or two, or three, or four. Luckily, you can study for CLEP, pass CLEP, and get college credit, pretty much all from home (where you can keep an eye on those crazy kids). Then, when they’re a bit older and can watch themselves, you can go off to college with two years of credits under your belt. That right there is pretty fancy.
Benefits: Stay at home with your kids and get college credits at the same time (don’t want little Johnny putting paper clips in the light sockets while you’re away!)
Full-Time Workers:
Maybe you feel like you’re working in a dead-end job and want to go back to school, but can’t go back to school because you don’t have enough money from your dead-end job. I hate catch-22s! Even with a full time job you have time to go home and study a bit, and in theory you could get two years of college right out of the way for a fraction of the cost it would take to go to school (and you wouldn’t have to quit your job!).
Benefits: Keep your job and get college credit in your spare time. This economy isn’t necessarily worth losing a job over, and college credit will help you get a better one too!
The Unemployed:
It sucks to be unemployed, and a lot of people out there are. That number will only grow for a bit. If you’re unemployed, you probably don’t want to spend a lot of money. Going to school is expensive, and you can help yourself get college credits using CLEP for a fraction of the cost. By the time you’re done with CLEP, you’ll only have to pay for two years of college, and hopefully the economy will be a little better by then.
Benefits: Earn college credit even though you don’t really have money to go to school (and make your situation better in the process!)
How Do I prepare for the CLEP Test?
Here’s my recommendation for CLEP Test preparation:
1. Figure out what subject(s) you want to study for. There’s a nice list of them over at The College Board along with some technical information about how to take the tests, etc.
2. Figure out how you’re going to study for them. That could be self teaching, using the internet, buying a textbook, finding a CLEP teacher, finding a CLEP Course, or whatever. There really isn’t a ton out there (do check out the Wikipedia page on CLEP tests, though). but my recommendation falls on eduFire. You can take full CLEP courses for anywhere from $200, which means you can get 3 college credits (normally costing around $1200) for only $272 (and that includes the CLEP testing fees). I definitely do recommend getting a teacher for your CLEP test, and eduFire is the only way to really do it no matter where you are (live classes with live teachers over the internet means you can do it from anywhere, even a beach).
Mmm, edupirates love beaches. Do you love beaches too?
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Jay Willingham
