Category: CLEP Basics

This is the tricky part. Most schools won’t provide you with a road map of CLEPs you can take for your specific degree. So this is going to take a little detective work on your part.

You’ll need 3 documents from your school to get started:

1. Program Evaluation: A list of the courses (or slots) you need to fulfill to graduate.
2. Traditional Class Options: A list of traditional courses available to fill your general education slots.
3. CLEP Equivalents: A list of the CLEP exams the school accepts, with course equivalents.

Basically, we’ll be figuring out your graduation requirements. THEN we’ll figure out which of these requirements (aka ‘slots’) can be filled using CLEP instead.

Let’s go over each of these items, step-by-step.

Document #1. Program Evaluation: A list of courses (or subjects) needed to graduate, to find your empty “slots”.
Hopefully, your school has provided you with a Program Evaluation or course plan. This is basically a list of all the courses or subjects you’ll need to graduate. For many of you, this list will contain a lot of empty “slots” for free electives or general education courses.

Document #2. Traditional Class Options: A list of classes you can take to fulfill your degree requirements. For general education requirements like the freshman-level math, science, and art, colleges often provide a shortlist of course options that can fulfill each slot.

For example, my school requires that I take 3 math credits (equivalent to one course) to graduate. But, I can fill that slot by taking MAT-100, MAT-101, or MAT-102 at my school. 

So you’ll need your school’s Academic Catalog, or a sheet like this provided by the school outlining which courses can be used to fill the slots in your course plan.

Document #3. CLEP Equivalencies: A list of accepted CLEP exams, to see which traditional classes they’ll replace.

Ask your school for a list of the CLEP exams they accept. The list should include a breakdown of how they’ll apply each class. It should looks something like this:

CLEP Exam	Equivalent	Credits
College Algebra	MAT-103	3
American Government	POL-210	3
American Literature	LIT-220	3

Piece it All Together with a Spreadsheet

You’ll need to read through these three elements to determine which CLEP exams will apply to your degree.

Make a Spreadsheet!
I recommend making a spreadsheet to keep track of requirements, traditional class options, and the CLEP classes that fulfill them. I use this to  keep track of traditional courses too. 

You may be asking yourself, “should I study first?” Sure! You can do that. Personally, I found that having a date scheduled in advance helped keep my studies on-track. 

But before you do anything, communicate with your advisor. Provide them with the list of CLEPs you’re taking, and which courses these exams will fulfill. Be patient with your advisor — don’t expect them to be a “CLEP Master” on day one. This program is still relatively new, so advisors often aren’t familiar with the program until they work alongside a student who is using it.  (Shoutout to my advisor at SNHU, who was amazingly flexible throughout the process.)

If you haven’t already, visit the CLEP website to find your closest testing facility, and get their contact information / website. Or explore online proctoring options.

If taking your exam in-person, visit the CLEP website to select your exam subject, and purchase a “ticket” for your exam. This ticket can be redeemed at any test-taking facility and is good for 6 months.

Next, if taking your exam in-person, contact your local testing facility to schedule your exam date. Some centers offer online booking, others require you to book via phone. Most of them charge an administrative fee of approximately $30, which is paid separately to the testing center. They may ask for your CLEP Ticket Number.

If taking the exam online, you’ll purchase your test registration during the proctor sign-up process.