Do I Have To Transfer Credits When Switching Schools
Youre by no means required to transfer credits, but it is a good idea as transferring gen-ed credits could save you a lot of money. If you have a specific concern about transferring credits, contact the registrars office at the school you plan to transfer to. It should be able to answer your questions and address your concerns.
Why Should I Earn A Degree By Examination
“Testing out of college” is probably a better choice for experienced adult learners rather than incoming freshmen. It might be right for you if you have a lot of knowledge but are being held back in your career due to the lack of a degree. If you are coming right out of high school, this course may be particularly challenging as the tests tend to be difficult and do require a substantial amount of studying for students that are new to a topic.
Earning College Credits By Examination While In The Military
Military members have two basic types of college level exams available to them for free, and a third option which used to be free, but can still save you time and money:
- CLEP Tests
- DANTES Exams
- Excelsior Exams*
Well cover each of these and give a few tips to help you pass these exams and earn free college credits. *as of Oct 1, 2011, Excelsior exams are no longer free for military members.
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Example Of How To Test Out Of College Courses And Save Money
Lets look at an example of the benefits of testing out of college courses:
A traditional required course at your university is 12 weeks long, with an average of 15 hours of work per week. It costs $400 per credit. The course is worth three credits, so it costs $1,200 in total.
Instead of taking the course, you could take a challenge exam that requires only 8 hours of study time to prepare. The test takes three hours to complete, and it costs $120 .
In this case, the choice is clear: if you have the prior learning required to challenge the course and test out, you can save over $1000 and hours of in-class and out-of-class time. You can take a more interesting class instead, and you can work more quickly towards the completion of your degree.
However, not all schools will offer testing-out opportunities that are so clear-cut. Some may only let you test for a portion of the credits. In the example scenario, that would mean you take the challenge test, but you can only earn one credit from its completion. You would only have to pay $40, but youd be missing out on the full number of credits youd earn from taking the course.
How To Test Out Of College Courses
LISA FRITSCHER
If you are already familiar with certain subjects, you may be able to test out of those subjects in college. To test out successfully, you must pass an equivalency examination with a minimum score set by the college. Not all colleges accept all tests, and each college is free to set its own requirements and restrictions. Contact an adviser at the college you are considering to make sure that you understand all of the regulations.
Take Advanced Placement classes. If you are still in high school, enroll in as many AP courses as possible. AP classes are designed to mirror college courses and provide a comprehensive overview of the subject matter. At the end of the school year, you will take an AP exam. Depending on the colleges requirements, a passing score could be a 3 or 4 on a scale on 5. If you are not eligible for the AP class, but you feel that you could pass the exam, talk to your academic adviser. Some high schools allow students who just missed the criteria for enrollment in the class to take the exam.
Take College-Level Equivalency Program tests. The College-Level Equivalency Program is a federally standardized program that allows students to earn credit for basic college courses by passing a subject-matter exam. The program is open to college students and potential students of all ages. Members of the armed forces and veterans may be eligible for free CLEP tests. Some communities run occasional promotions that discount the price of the tests.
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Which Exam Is The Best For Me To Test Out Of College Courses
The answer to this isnt simple, but the first step is figuring out your colleges credit by exam policy.
Because credit by examination policies vary widely from school to school, its essential that you understand your schools policy before registering for one of these tests.
Your schools credit by exam policy will explain:
- Which exams they accept
- What score you need to earn in order to receive credit
- How many credits will be awarded for a passing score
- How many credits in total you can receive through exams
Another factor to consider is that at some colleges, these exams are only used for testing out of college courses. Your score will allow you an exemption, meaning you will be able to skip over entry level classes, but you will not receive any credits toward your program.
Its so important to check the policy at your college or university to figure out what exams are accepted and what value they hold.
If your school accepts more than one of the discussed examinations, then you will need to consider other factors to determine what the best choice is for you!
- Do they all offer tests in the subject area you plan to test in?
- Which test has the most conveniently located testing center for you?
- What is the total cost ?
Clep Tests College Level Examination Program
A CLEP test, or College Level Examination Program, is a standard college level exam program that is accepted by many colleges and universities around the US. There are approximately 35 different exams you can take which, when passed, give you corresponding college level credits. Depending on the university, they may or may not apply to your GPA, since the tests are usually given on a pass/fail basis. Each of the 35 test can be taken via a computer based test, and there are 14 available in paper format.
You should expect to wait approximately 4-6 weeks to get your test results, and you can also opt to have the test results sent to your school, which makes it easier to have the college credits applied to your degree program . In most cases you will need to send away for an official transcript before you are able to officially apply these credits to your degree program, so its usually best to wait until you are done taking CLEP tests so you dont have to pay for multiple transcripts.
Here is more information for CLEP Preparation Resources for Military Service Members.
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How To Test Out Of College Courses And Save Money: Start Early
Testing out of college courses is a usefulbut highly-limited tool. Colleges differ significantly when it comes to what they do or do not offer in terms of challenge testing. If the schools testing-out process is in-house only, the professor or instructor of the class will need time to prepare the testing materials and review your information.
Your best bet, if you have prior knowledge in a subject that youd like to use to test out of a course, is to speak to enrollment well ahead of the terms start date. The earlier you start the challenge-testing process with your school, the better.
How To Test Out Of College Courses And Save Money
Everyone knows the routine: your freshman year of college, you sign up for as many easy-A courses as you can. However, you may want to consider knocking out those entry-level courses through challenge testing, instead. Challenge testing can allow you to accelerate to higher-level learning, and you could save yourself thousands of dollars. In this article, well go over how to test out of college courses and save money.
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What Is Credit By Examination
In its simplest form, credit by examination is the process of taking subject-specific tests in an attempt to earn college credit for courses within your degree program. Typically, these tests can be used to gain credit for entry-level or general education classes, although each school has its own policies for how many credits they will accept through this methodgenerally ranging from 15-30 credit hours.
I know it can be intimidating to take a test for a class that you havent actually taken, but it is not as bad as you think! These exams cover a general overview of the subject in question, and the various exam programs also offer optional study guides and resources to help you prepare. Not to mention, if you have work or life experience that relates to the subject, you may already have a solid head-start in prepping for the exam.
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There are several different nationwide exams available to earn credit for college, but not every school accepts all the testsso make sure you do your research on your schools specific policies! With fees that are typically less than $100, passing an exam for college credit has a huge potential to save you a lot of money when pursuing your degree.
Fastest Ways To Get College Credits:
- Take accelerated online classes from an accredited university like Purdue
- Use life experience to get college credits
- Take a few multiple choice exams. Get up to 30 college credits. Thats 1 year of college.
You do not have to spend years in college to finish your degree!
Ready to get started? Here we go
By using our step-by-step guide below, you can free up 880 hours of your life by shaving an entire semester of classes and study time from your degree plan.
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Option 2 Take 3 Clep Exams
Getting credit for classes that you did not attend may sound like cheating, but this method is completely legitimate. College Level Examination Program exams are accepted by 2,000+ accredited universities across the nation.
To get the most bang for your buck, choose 2 exams worth 6 credits and 1 exam worth 3 credits. Most exams are multiple choice and last just 90 minutes, so theyre pretty painless.
Here are the steps to get 15 college credits with CLEP exams:
1 Choose 2 exams worth 6 credits each from this list:
- College Composition
- Principles of Management
- Principles of Marketing
3 Make sure the university YOU want to apply to will give you credit for these exams.
How you do this is:
- Visit your schools website
- Use the website search feature and type CLEP and perform a search. NYUs website is a perfect example of how you can find this info in just a few seconds.
4 Register for your CLEP exams and pay the fee of $85.
Military service members may qualify for free exams. Yay!
5 Choose your study guide.
This pops up when you register for the exam. Easy-peasy! The CLEP Official Study Guide is $24.99 and offers practice questions for all 33 possible CLEP exams. A good idea if you are taking more than one exam. There is also the choice of questions for each individual exam for only $10.
6 Set up your appointment with a test center near you.
7 Practice, practice, practice.
8 Take your exam.
Technical Training Assessments With Nocti Business Solutions
Turn your technical training into college credit by examination through NOCTI Business Solutions training assessments. NOCTI Business Solutions has collaborated with the National College Credit Recommendation Service to evaluate several of its assessments for awarding college credit. Experienced industry experts and professors evaluated the rigor of the NOCTI Business Solutions assessments to translate the content into credit.
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Use Process Of Elimination
If you come across a question and you dont know the answer, try to take a creative approach and see if you can eliminate clearly incorrect options. By doing this, you can make an educated guess and give yourself a better chance of getting the question right. Because CLEP exams arent based on a single source, its possible and even likely that you will encounter questions you dont feel confident about. Utilizing an educated guessing strategy can make a difference in your final score.
Is It Possible To Get 15 College Credits Fast
Yes. And depending on your current knowledge and past experiences, you can even get 15 college credits in a single day.
It might seem far-fetched, but its true and we will walk you through the process step-by-step in this guide.
- If you have a great deal of work or life experience, use your life experience to get college credit.
- Feel confident taking multiple choice tests? Get 6 college credits in 90 minutes.
- Prefer taking actual college classes? Several universities offer fast-track courses online.
We prefer to use a mixture to maximize our credit opportunities: Test out of classes + Credit for experience + Accelerated classes.
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Review Your Clep Exam Outline
Before creating your plan for CLEP success, take some time to review the exam descriptions provided by The College Board. These give insight on the types of skills and knowledge tested within a particular subject and can help you zero in on the areas you need to focus on more or less. For instance, in the American Literature overview, you can read about how much you need to understand critical literature terms, interpret poetry, and identify the authors and plots of well-known literary works.
Life Experience Credits For Graduate Degrees
Most credit-for-career experience programs apply only to undergraduate degreesassociate degrees or bachelors degrees. It is rare for an accredited online graduate degree program to award credit for experience. If you encounter an online graduate school that advertises masters or doctorate degrees based solely on life experience, check accreditation carefully. You are almost certainly dealing with an online degree mill. Degree mills are fake colleges that mill or crank out worthless paper degrees to thousands of unsuspecting students each year.
But there are some notable exceptions, especially as prior learning is increasingly recognized as valuable. Sometimes there are accelerated degree programs that cater to people with specific experience in their careers, such as Executive MBA programs that can be completed in a year or less, but only admit students who have a number of years of experience working in business administration.
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Professional Licenses And Credentials
The American Council on Education has also reviewed professional certifications offered by non-collegiate agencies and makes recommendations on when to award college credit for work experience.
A few of these credentials are highlighted below:
- Certified Public Accountant
- FAA Pilot, Engineer, Mechanic Licenses
- Respiratory Therapy Technician
In addition to ACE-approved professional designations, online colleges often accept nationally recognized or state licenses. Aviation licenses, real estate licenses and professional health certifications, such as nursing diploma training, are all commonly accepted for college degree credits.
Verify if your license or professional credential could earn you work experience college credit in the National Guide to College Credit for Workforce Training.
Make Use Of Your Prior Knowledge
There are myriad ways to gain the skills and knowledge that are the focus of some college courses. If youve had a career thats required you to learn the materials that are covered in a class, you may as well apply your prior knowledge. That way, you wont feel like all that time youve already spent learning something was wasted.
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How Do Students Earn Work/life Credit
Students get college credit for work experience in different ways. Military experience, volunteering, and professional certifications may earn students credit. Many schools award credit through a prior learning assessment process, which can involve a portfolio or exam. Learners can also take standardized tests to receive credit for their prior knowledge.
What Kinds Of Colleges Accept Test Scores
Keep in mind that many “earn a degree fast” and “test out of college” advertisements are scams. When choosing to earn a degree primarily through examination, it is essential that you enroll in a legitimate, accredited online college. The widest form of accreditation is regional accreditation. Accreditation from the Distance Education Training Council is also gaining traction. Regionally accredited programs that are well-known for awarding credit by exam include: Thomas Edison State College, Excelsior College, Charter Oak State College, and Western Governors University.
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How Many Clep Credits Are Accepted
This depends on the university and the degree program. In theory, you could use CLEP exams to get almost all the required credits for your degree.
A more realistic scenario would be using them to skip all your general education courses, meaning you could spend your time taking classes in your major. This could easily let you get your degree in half the time.
Dual And Joint Enrollment
Dual and joint enrollment allow high school students to take college courses that count towards credit. Dual enrollment awards both high school and college credit while joint enrollment awards college credit only.
Students should be aware that these courses are designed for the traditional college age student and adults. You may be exposed to content, language, discussions and education approaches appropriate for adults.
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Uncover New Career Options With A Life Experience Degree
There are many terrific degree programs out there for you to complete an associate, bachelors, or possibly even graduate degree. It makes sense to cash in on the credit for your knowledge and experience so you can get your degree and move on to the next step in your career quickly and affordably. Compare your options and get started today!