Education quality of CLEP Testing

[ehdi]

Hello, I am new to this. I was set on using Lumerit but had an uneasy feeling about it so decided to find reviews on it.  That led me to this forum, which I find fascinating. I have a question about CLEPing that I can’t find an answer to despite all my searching here and elsewhere - How is the quality of the education using resources like Study.com and Sophia.com, etc? Something I don’t understand is how the CLEP tests are accepted for college credit when the creators of the test themselves say the test are easy (I read somewhere the tests are rated a 2 on a 1-5 scale of difficulty). I’m interested in CLEPing because of the flexibility and cost, but I still want a rigorous and thorough education. I’m not just looking for a piece of paper but an actual education to be proud of, ya know? I don’t want anything handed to me. So these “easy tests” are something I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around. I’m not trying to insult anyone who’s gone this route by implying you didn’t have a good education. I am assuming that I am just lacking information on how this all works. Thanks in advance! (Please don’t use initials in your response, because other than CLEP and AP, I don’t know what they mean!)

[allvia]

They are only easy if you're familiar with the material; and some subjects are more difficult/broader in subject matter than others.  They are all lower lever (LL) credit - freshman/sophomore years.  You go out and learn the material independently vs a traditional class.  There are many sources available to preparing for the exams.  I would suggest one of them be Modern States (MS) as they will also allow you to take the exams for FREE - https://modernstates.org

[TwinMom]

"Easy" is, of course, SO subjective. I've read posts where someone says they studied for a day and passed the test easily. Others have taken the same exam and failed it multiple times.

If rigorousness is your priority then I'd say CLEP is a good fit for you because you can studies as in depth as you want in preparation for the exam.

[bjcheung77]

edhi, how young are you and what grade level are you in? If you're an adult, what is the highest level of education you have attained? These CLEP exams and other alternative college credit options are different for each individual - Some think it's too easy, some think it's too much rigorous study is required, and some think it's on-par with first/second year college courses.

Basically, it depends how much the person already know on the subject and their respective age/maturity, other factors such as family commitments, work, etc will play a role in how they perceive the alternative credits. Essentially, CLEP/AP and other similar exam options are all recommended for college credit, a majority of them are Lower Level and some providers have Upper Level.

All in all, you're getting a quality education as you require at minimum 6 credits from the college/university of your choice if you do choose the Big 3. The cornerstone gets you prepared for academic writing, the capstone verifies your cumulative learning outcomes.

If you decide on competency degrees, it'll be different than the Big 3, you will need to complete assessments for 30 credits worth. So, it's up to you to decide what type of education is for you. Alternative education, competency based, traditional university or a match of all three - a hybrid. Don't worry about it, the Masters/PhD is when you really learn your stuff...

[bluebooger]

> when the creators of the test themselves say the test are easy

and where exactly did you read that ?

https://clep.collegeboard.org/earn-colle...lep-basics

https://clep.collegeboard.org/exams

[dfrecore]

The only ones I know that rate CLEP tests are on Free-CLEP-Prep, and they're not the creators of the exams, they just rate them against the difficulty of the other exams there.

If you want a rigorous education, that has absolutely nothing to do with CLEP, or anything else. A rigorous education is you studying and learning about something. Taking a CLEP test is just showing a college that you have decent knowledge of a subject. Those are two completely different things.