How CLEP Exams Save You Time and Money
Have you checked out the price of a college education these days? It is pricey. Let me tell you. We've been working our hardest to cut the costs of getting that higher education for our children by working every angle possible. At the beginning, we started with some SAT prep to work on getting that score up high enough to earn some academic scholarship funds. Another great option for cutting costs are CLEP Exams.
When I was entering college, I took an English CLEP Exam and scored high enough to earn me six college credits towards my degree plan. If you've done the work and can pass the test, you don't want to have to sit through a basic course that costs you both time and money to complete. Since I earned these credits and took a couple of Dual Credit courses in high school, I was able to graduate with my Bachelor's degree in three years. Aside from cutting tuition costs, that cut an entire year of living expenses off of the cost of my education. That's a huge savings!
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Why Take CLEP Exams?
CLEP stands for College Level Examination Program. The idea is that if you've been working at a college level in high school, then you should be able to get college credit for your understanding of a subject. You can use Study.com to help you prepare for success on these tests. Here are some reasons that we're pursuing CLEP Exams:
- Lower Cost - You can take CLEP Exams for a small fee. Even if you have to take the test again after the three month waiting period, the cost is still much lower than the current rate for college credits. A public state school averages around $250 per credit hour, so those three credit hours (at least) that you could earn would cost an average of $750. That doesn't even take into account the books needed to complete the course and the time to attend class and study for the course work.
- Fewer Courses to Graduate - If you're hoping to graduate in under four years, which most people desire to do, it's helpful to not have to take any semesters packed with 18 hours. Earning extra credits takes the pressure off of your student to really focus on a reasonable amount of classes per semester.
- Enjoy Your Upper Level Course Work Sooner - the CLEP Exams that you can take generally help you work through what colleges consider "the basics" that everyone has to take. If your student gets these covered prior to attending college, they can jump into the classes they're interested in when they arrive. This helps save them from the dreaded "weed out" classes. Additionally, it keeps them engaged and excited about the classes that they are taking.
How Study.com Helps You With CLEP Exams
Study.com is the best all-encompassing solution for people who want to successfully pass their CLEP exams. It works great for all types of learners. Study.com presents the material in several different ways at a pace that best suits each person’s individual needs, tremendously helping you with fully understanding the concepts taught. Study.com’s CLEP test prep courses are designed specifically to help you master the material on the CLEP exams.
Benefits of Preparing for CLEP Exams with Study.com
My son does not love math although he is pretty good at it. His desire is to pursue a more language heavy degree, so CLEPing out of math would be very helpful. He's started using Study.com to prepare for the test, and it has been so helpful. Here are some of the benefits he's experiencing:
1. Personalized Study Plan
It can be challenging to continue to make progress pursuing CLEP Exam studies while you have a job, school, and friends to juggle. You can set a goal date in your dashboard for completing your course. Then Study.com will create a personalized study plan to make sure you stay on track. You can even have it text you reminders to help you stay on track.
2. Placement Tests
Before my son has even started walking through the well organized course of study, he's taking placement tests to narrow down where he really needs to spend his time studying. This is great because it offers him practice opportunities while cutting down the time required for preparing for the test.
3. Solidifying His Understanding
I love that he's getting a different approach to the same math concepts that he's been studying. If he gets stuck on a concept, he can watch one of the short, engaging videos to fill in the gaps of his understanding. There are also text transcripts he can read over or skim if he just needs his memory jogged. This additional math practice will really solidify his understanding.
Important Information About CLEP Exams
CLEP Exams are an excellent way to cut costs for your college degree. If your college doesn't accept certain tests or scores, it won't actually help. Before you even begin studying, make sure to do a little research:
- What CLEP Exams does my college accept? You can search for your school on the official CLEP Exam website and find out which exams are accepted and the score you need to earn credit.
- How many CLEP Exam credits can I earn? Check with your school of choice to find out how many CLEP Exam credits your student can apply to their degree plan. Sometimes there is a restriction of the number of credits towards a major or minor.
- You don't have to be a master. CLEP Exams are not generally looking for someone who has mastered all of a subject. The score you need to gain credit is equivalent to a "D" grade. The good news is that the score only transfers as "Pass" on your official transcript. Don't kill yourself trying to master all of the material before you take the test. Time is a valuable commodity too!
- Take advantage of Study.com's Resources - Study.com has an excellent resource library that will help you think through all of the important aspects of pursuing these tests. Research the right things first!
Get Started with Study.com
Get your student started towards earning valuable college credits. You can get 20% off your first 3 months of Study.com’s CLEP test prep product with coupon code HOMESCHOOLFORCLEP (Valid through May 31, 2018 for new members only).
Or you can enter to win a 6-month subscription. Five winners will receive a 6-month subscription to Study.com’s CLEP test prep product (each subscription valued at $359.94).
If you'd love for your student to take more CLEP Exams, but need help covering the exam costs, you might be interested in their CLEP Exam scholarship opportunity.
Betsy Strauss is an unexpected homeschooler, mother of three, who is in a relationship with a sweet man for life. She loves reading books, drinking coffee, and learning anything with her kids.
Thank you, Havarti! 3
Can you talk a little bit about how this fits in with classical conversations? My daughter is in ninth grade, and challenge B. I would love to know your thoughts. Maneuvering high school, and credits, and thinking about college is so hard!!
Classical Conversations is great because it provides more than enough high school credits for graduation. Our thought has been to look for the CLEP tests that correlate with the topics covered through the CC curriculum. You could take Government, Economics, or American Literature after Challenge I; Biology after Challenge II; Chemistry, American History, and College Algebra after Challenge III. We haven’t taken all of these tests because I do still feel that there is value to studying some of these at a college level (depending on where you’re going). The most important thing is to look at the colleges your daughter might be interested in attending and seeing which tests they accept and how many CLEP hours they’ll take. We are focusing on the tests my son does not want to focus on in college – specifically College Algebra! He’ll be taking it some time in June after the CC course load is complete for the year. Hope this helps!
Thank you!!