I am in the same boat. Excelsior says no to CLEP english, but it also says that they will accept something from your school stating that you met the written english requirement for the school that you are sending transcripts from. That might be the backdoor to the problem. I haven't enrolled yet, so I can't give a definite answer.

__________________
Previous Credits:
Traditional 57
CLEP English w/essay 6
Heriot-Watt MBA 7 Modules + 1 Tenative Compensatory Pass

IC Study Credits:
Info. Systems & Comp Apps. CLEP 68
Principles of Marketing CLEP 79
Principles of Management CLEP 73
Working On B.S. Marketing from Excelsior & finishing MBA from Heriot-Watt
Total Credits to Date: 86