Help Understanding My CLEP Credits

[Semmy]

Hello everyone, I am interested in the CLEP tests, and have signed up with IC to help me earn some quick credits.

I am currently going to a Community College with intent of transferring to a state University next year after completion of my associates degree in general studies. I know that my community college accepts every CLEP credit offered, but the university I am looking into only accepts some of them, and they are required to be passed with a higher score then normal.

My question is, when I transfer, will the University see my degree as a whole and accept my entire degree, or will they look at it class-by-class and possibly throw out some of my credits earned by CLEP?

Thank you!

[burbuja0512]

Hi there!

Would you mind sharing what you plan on majoring in for your BA/BS? This could help us make some suggestions. For example, if you were going to major in something that is relatively simple to test out of like psych, business or general/liberal studies, I would probably recommend going to a different college (like one of the big 3) where you could test out of most of your undergrad. Then you could focus more time/money on a graduate degree to get more bang for your buck.

If you're looking at something that's not easy or possible to test out of, you may want to take a different course of action. You may need to get in touch with a counselor from the four year college you'd like to attend. For example, I have found a perfect MBA program for me. I KNOW it's the one for me as it's very unique and there aren't many like this in the country. Since it's so unique, I contacted the school, got in touch with one of the heads of the program and discussed prerequisites. It turns out (much to my surprise) that they are perfectly ok with the prerequisites being met through CLEP or DSST.

Anyhow.. give us more info and we can help. There are always lots of great ideas on this forum!!

[Semmy]

I am planning on getting a general education degree (Called the AGEC in Arizona.) It's basically a transfer degree, ensuring that the universities will accept your associates degree. I am looking into a bachelor in Communications at ASU or UofA.

Thank you very much for your insight and quick response

[cookderosa]

Hello everyone, I am interested in the CLEP tests, and have signed up with IC to help me earn some quick credits.

I am currently going to a Community College with intent of transferring to a state University next year after completion of my associates degree in general studies. I know that my community college accepts every CLEP credit offered, but the university I am looking into only accepts some of them, and they are required to be passed with a higher score then normal.

My question is, when I transfer, will the University see my degree as a whole and accept my entire degree, or will they look at it class-by-class and possibly throw out some of my credits earned by CLEP?

Thank you!

There is only ONE WAY that you can lock in your CLEP credits, and that is to follow your community college's ARTICULATION agreement with the four-year university you attend.

Soon, like Monday, go into your advising office. Be sure you are completing a degree that ARTICULATES into the bachelor's degree. You must use that word. Your school must have a written agreement in place (99% chance that they do) and if you follow the agreement, your credits are guaranteed to transfer, and the university will not evaluate your credits one at a time, they will give you a "Block-transfer" of your degree.

Also, let's say your associate's degree is 60 credits long. You end up changing majors, maybe taking a few extra classes in something else, and long story short- you leave there will 66 credits. The 6 credits not used in your degree WILL BE evaluated, because they are outside of the degree. Those may or may not be accepted.

Additionally, let's say life gets in the way and because of a time crunch, you are 1 class short of earning your degree. You don't want to push back your start date at the university, so you apply with 57 credits. Technically, all 57 will be evaluated individually and because you are OUTSIDE of the articulation agreement, those CLEPs will be subject to the university's policy.
Those credits are not anchored by the block transfer- so you could lose many of them, as well as the CLEP score policy disqualifying some scores.

So, in a nutshell- this sounds scary. It's not. It's very simple- you are about to save a TON of money and time, you just have to follow the rules. Your situation is unique to this forum because most of us here are not doing the path you are. If I were to start over at 20, I'd do EXACTLY what you are doing. It will work, you'll have a brand name degree and life will go on.

Many of us here left school and returned later. Those of us that did that are using one of the "big 3" for the exact reason that is helping you. To go into a 4 year school with loose credits means individually evaluated credits- and universities vary in policy/procedure, but mostly are pretty tight. The big 3 have a policy that they accept any CLEP, so we can skip the AA and use the CLEPs and then worry about the 300/400 levels and not worry about the 100/200 levels being disqualified.

I said 99% earlier, if your school does not have a written transfer agreement (articulation) for your specific degree into that specific university, you need to follow ONLY THE UNIVERSITY's CLEP policy. Disregard the community college's policy, it doesn't matter that you even put your CLEPs on that transcript. The only thing that matters in that case, is that you look at the University's policy and follow it to the letter (maybe even contact an advisor at that uni).

Good luck and welcome to the board!

[burbuja0512]

Happy to help!

Ok... there will probably be people here that know more than I do about what you're interested in, but based on what you're telling me, I would suggest looking at the big 3. They're cheap and if you're good at testing, you can graduate with your bachelors pretty quickly.

Before you make huge plans, take a CLEP or DSST. See how you like it. If you're like most of us here, you'll be totally addicted to the time and $$ savings. However, testing out of subjects is NOT for everyone. Some people need the structured environment of a traditional classroom. You need to be very driven and (in my case) put yourself on a strict testing schedule in order to save time and get through your degree plan quickly.

I started down this path in July. I had 24 B&M (brick and mortar) credits. I now have 70 credits and if I stick to the schedule I've set for myself, I should have my BS in Business Administration from COSC in just a few more months. At the very worst, if my work and family schedule makes me drag it out, I'll have it fall next year. So, roughly a year for an undergrad. I work full time, with travel once or twice a month and have a house full of kids. That being said, so far this really suits my learning style. I am disciplined and instead of watching tv or hanging out with my friends once my kids have gone to bed, DH and I sit next to each other on the couch while we study on our laptops.

I work in business (sales) and an undergrad is pretty much a given. I am sooo lucky to have a successful career without one. However, working for a bachelor's won't open any doors for me. I NEED the MBA to advance. I can't afford to spend any more time on the BS than I have to. That is why I chose one of the big 3. It's not for everyone, but after you decide whether you like to CLEP, you may want to re-consider your choice of college.

HTH. Sorry for the ramble. It's late

[Semmy]

First of all I would like to say that I am incredibly appreciative for your very thorough responses to my issue. I have been trying to hunt down answers for quite some time, and I am truly relieved to have them answered.

Two more quick questions if you don't mind..

Upon completion of a CLEP test, I am told I can send off the results to a different school. If my degree is in fact 'Block-transferred' then I have no need to send them to any other school besides the community college I am attending, correct? This seems obvious, but I want to verify that I am not going to be denied next year.

Also, please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly are the 'Big three' that I keep hearing about?

thankyouthankyouthankyou again =D

[burbuja0512]

First of all I would like to say that I am incredibly appreciative for your very thorough responses to my issue. I have been trying to hunt down answers for quite some time, and I am truly relieved to have them answered.

Two more quick questions if you don't mind..

Upon completion of a CLEP test, I am told I can send off the results to a different school. If my degree is in fact 'Block-transferred' then I have no need to send them to any other school besides the community college I am attending, correct? This seems obvious, but I want to verify that I am not going to be denied next year.

Also, please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly are the 'Big three' that I keep hearing about?

thankyouthankyouthankyou again =D

No problem at all - this is a learning process for all of us. I gain new ideas almost every day in this forum.

You don't need to send your testing credits anywhere other than where you're currently enrolled. They will make the decision about which ones they'll accept and add to your transcript.

The Big 3 are Thomas Edison State College, Excelsior College, and Charter Oak State College. They are all fully accredited schools (2 state, 1 private) that are a bit more generous with the transferred and testing credit acceptance. Not too long ago, you could get a degree from any of these without having taken a single class from them, but COSC and EC have gotten a little stricter. I will have to take a capstone class before I can graduate, but other than that, I plan on getting my degree through credit transfer, testing, and taking Straighterline classes. (that's a whole other topic... see straighterline.com - basically very cheap, good, online classes that are ACE accredited. Good for when you don't know enough about a topic to feel comfortable totally doing self-study alone)

You can still get a degree at TESC through testing alone, though they do "highly recommend" a capstone. This may or may not change in the future, but IMHO if I had to do it over again, that's probably where I would enroll. I LOVE COSC, but not looking forward to the Capstone.

[burbuja0512]

P. S. Here is a good thread that talks about the big 3:
http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...comparison

P.P.S I found out about the big 3 from my little brother, who graduated very young and at age 20 was making 6 figures.. he just turned 30 a few days ago, and is working on his doctorate. I trust him 100% not to mention many of the people here can tell you their own "big 3" stories. Please do look up the accreditation of these schools. They are totally legit and you can graduate from any of them without using testing credits if you want to. Not to mention, TESC just won an award for being a top school for learners over 25:
Thomas Edison State College | College Shares Top Spot in US News & World Report's Best Colleges

[Semmy]

Awesome, that is good information to know for sure.

I will be checking up on making sure my school will articulate with the University I am planning on attending and hopefully begin my CLEP-taking!

[burbuja0512]

Keep us posted!!!! I am also sure that tomorrow more opinions will pop up. Definitely do some searches on the forum. You'll learn a lot of different options that you might not have known about. Instant Cert and this forum have truly changed my life. I have been trying to "go back to college" for years and gotten my credits in bits and pieces. This time I'm going to do it.. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not to mention now I've got the whole family involved (as you can see from my other post about my DS) Between me and my kids, we'll eventually save thousands and thousands with CLEP/DSST and other resources.