Slash Your Tuition Through Credit By Examination

Using Exams to Earn College Credits, Saving Thousands in the Process

If there's one thing in higher education on which everyone can agree, it's that college is a very expensive investment. That doesn't mean it's a bad idea, on the contrary it can be the key to lifetime of higher income, not to mention being the only path to the specific career you desire. But just because something is a wise investment doesn't meant that you shouldn't do what you can to make it cost as little as possible. And when it comes to paying tuition, one of the best ways to do that is through “credit by examination”.

The idea behind credit by examination is that you don't walk into college not knowing anything. You may already know a great deal about history, or psychology, or science, or math, or any number of other things. Instead of taking an expensive course when you're already familiar with the material to be covered, credit by examination allows you to take an inexpensive test to prove your existing knowledge, and thereby not have to take the course at all!

These Exams Can Earn You College Credits

There are a number of different systems of tests for credit by examination. These include:

• The College Level Examination Program (CLEP), managed by the College Board. (Link: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html
• DSST (formerly called the DANTES Subject Standardized Tests), administered by Prometric. (Link: http://getcollegecredit.com)
• Excelsior College Examinations (ECE), offered by Excelsior College in New York. (Link: https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_College/Excelsior_College_Examinations)
• The Thomas Edison State College Examination Program (TECEP), overseen by Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey. (Link: http://www.tesc.edu/701.php)

How Does It Work?

These programs are administered by different providers, but they are all similar in the way that they work. You schedule a time at a nearby testing center to take a particular test in a specific subject. On arrival your ID is checked and you're taken to a quiet place to take your test on computer. At the end your performance on the test is evaluated, and you receive a score. If you do well enough, you can submit the results of your test to your school and receive transfer credit for the equivalent course.

In What Subjects Can I Test?

There is an incredibly varied array of tests available. For those with extensive prior knowledge, all of the credit needed to fulfill general education requirements can be completed by examination, including English composition, history, humanities, literature, social sciences, physical sciences, and mathematics. Many tests are available in business administration, from the basics to advanced topics. ECE offers a comprehensive set of tests in nursing, for experienced RNs who are interested in showing they have the equivalent knowledge to someone with a bachelor's degree in nursing.

Do you speak Spanish, French or German? Whether you learned it at home or studied it in school, you may be able to get a significant amount of credit for it. CLEP offers tests in each of those languages, and depending on your score you can earn six or even twelve semester-hours of credit — almost as much as a semester's worth of study!

How Much Money Can I Save?

To take a CLEP test costs roughly one hundred dollars, depending on the fees charges by the testing center. A CLEP test can earn you three, six, or twelve semester-hours of credit, the same as one, two, or four normal courses. So if your school has a tuition rate of three hundred dollars per semester-hour of credit, you could save hundreds of dollars each time you take advantage of credit by examination. And if you're a military service member, you can take credit by examination tests for free – contact your base education officer to learn how.

Contact Your Advisor Before Testing

One thing to keep in mind before diving into credit by examination is that different schools have different policies about how much transfer credit they will accept through this method. Also, some schools will exempt you from particular requirements, and others will simply award you elective credit. Before making any decisions, contact your academic advisor to be sure that the path you take will get you where you want to go.

Is Expert Knowledge Necessary?

As a final note, people sometimes ask whether one needs to have extensive prior knowledge of a subject in order to get credit for it by examination. While that's obviously helpful, some students who excel at independent study and are comfortable with standardized tests find that they can study a new subject and learn enough to pass an examination without undue hardship. Those students can maximize the amount of credit they receive by this process, saving a great deal of money and hastening the completion of the degree.