Annual pass rates for each CLEP and DSST exam were once available through DANTES. Unfortunately, as of August 2018, the agency no longer posts this information in detail.
Here is the formerly-published data, from 2017. Unfortunately, these numbers are not likely to be updated, but they should still be helpful in estimating exam difficulty. For access to the limited 2018 pass rates, visit the DANTES website.
CLEP Pass Rates
CLEP Civilian Pass Rates 2017
| Test Name | Test Volume | Pass Rate |
| Spanish Language | 32,300 | 91% |
| College Composition Modular | 3,530 | 83% |
| College Composition | 9,996 | 81% |
| Introductory Sociology | 4,167 | 80% |
| Principles of Marketing | 2,587 | 79% |
| French Language | 2,819 | 78% |
| College Mathematics | 4,382 | 76% |
| Human Growth and Development | 3,000 | 75% |
| Analyzing and Interpreting Lit | 6,267 | 75% |
| Principles of Macroeconomics | 1,467 | 72% |
| German Language | 791 | 72% |
| Principles of Microeconomics | 1,395 | 72% |
| Info Systems and Computer Appl | 1,511 | 71% |
| Introductory Psychology | 3,476 | 70% |
| History of United States I | 4,061 | 69% |
| Western Civilization I | 1,190 | 68% |
| Humanities | 1,629 | 68% |
| Principles of Management | 2,596 | 67% |
| Precalculus | 1,825 | 63% |
| Social Sciences and History | 859 | 62% |
| English Literature | 1,009 | 60% |
| Intro to Educational Psych | 1,129 | 60% |
| Biology | 4,595 | 60% |
| Natural Sciences | 1,630 | 57% |
| History of United States II | 3,991 | 56% |
| Financial Accounting | 803 | 55% |
| Calculus | 1,579 | 53% |
| College Algebra | 8,291 | 52% |
| American Government | 3,702 | 52% |
| Introductory Business Law | 780 | 51% |
| American Literature | 1,446 | 51% |
| Western Civilization II | 1,222 | 48% |
| Chemistry | 1,457 | 39% |
CLEP Military Pass Rates 2017
| Test Name | Test Volume | Pass Rate |
| Spanish Language | 2,238 | 84% |
| College Composition Modular | 5,528 | 82% |
| College Composition | 3,159 | 75% |
| Info Systems and Computer Appl | 1,766 | 71% |
| French Language | 174 | 67% |
| College Mathematics | 4,347 | 66% |
| Introductory Sociology | 2,135 | 61% |
| Analyzing and Interpreting Lit | 7,728 | 59% |
| German Language | 101 | 57% |
| Principles of Marketing | 675 | 55% |
| Natural Sciences | 967 | 49% |
| History of United States I | 1,267 | 39% |
| Western Civilization II | 177 | 39% |
| Social Sciences and History | 802 | 39% |
| Western Civilization I | 319 | 38% |
| History of United States II | 997 | 36% |
| Humanities | 1,239 | 36% |
| Biology | 713 | 36% |
| Precalculus | 156 | 35% |
| Introductory Psychology | 2,289 | 34% |
| Principles of Management | 4,550 | 33% |
| Principles of Macroeconomics | 431 | 33% |
| Human Growth and Development | 524 | 30% |
| Principles of Microeconomics | 395 | 26% |
| English Literature | 354 | 25% |
| Introductory Business Law | 180 | 24% |
| College Algebra | 2,034 | 24% |
| American Government | 1,241 | 24% |
| Calculus | 70 | 21% |
| Intro to Educational Psych | 155 | 19% |
| Financial Accounting | 177 | 13% |
| Chemistry | 126 | 13% |
| American Literature | 426 | 12% |
DSST Pass Rates
DSST Civilian Pass Rates 2017
| Test Name | Test Volume | Pass Rate |
| General Anthropology | 20 | 100% |
| Principles of Supervision | 239 | 95% |
| Criminal Justice | 60 | 93% |
| Introduction to World Religions | 190 | 93% |
| Personal Finance | 120 | 93% |
| A History of The Vietnam War | 61 | 92% |
| Management Information Systems | 44 | 91% |
| History of The Soviet Union | 29 | 90% |
| Introduction to Business | 103 | 89% |
| Technical Writing | 73 | 89% |
| Human Resource Management | 78 | 88% |
| Lifespan Developmental Psychology | 67 | 85% |
| Computing & Information Technology | 98 | 85% |
| Ethics in America | 136 | 83% |
| Money and Banking | 51 | 82% |
| Health & Human Development | 297 | 81% |
| Substance Abuse | 345 | 80% |
| Human Cultural Geography | 42 | 79% |
| Business Ethics and Society | 82 | 74% |
| Introduction to Law Enforcement | 125 | 74% |
| Principles of Finance | 29 | 72% |
| Organizational Behavior | 134 | 71% |
| Astronomy | 70 | 70% |
| Environmental Science | 121 | 67% |
| Fundamentals of Cyber Security | 21 | 67% |
| Foundations of Education | 172 | 64% |
| The Civil War and Reconstruction | 78 | 63% |
| Business Mathematics | 10 | 60% |
| Principles of Statistics | 67 | 58% |
| Principles of Public Speaking* | 53 | 53% |
| Prin. of Advanced English Comp | 37 | 51% |
| Art in The Western World | 42 | 33% |
| Fundamentals of Counseling | 74 | 26% |
| Principles of Physical Science I | 4 | 25% |
| Fundamentals of College Algebra | 26 | 23% |
| Math for Liberal Arts | 24 | 21% |
DSST Military Pass Rates 2017
| Test Name | Test Volume | Pass Rate |
| Principles of Supervision | 13013 | 97% |
| Introduction to Business | 1240 | 77% |
| Computing & Information Technology | 2202 | 74% |
| Health & Human Development | 709 | 72% |
| Business Ethics and Society | 660 | 69% |
| Management Information Systems | 370 | 67% |
| Personal Finance | 236 | 66% |
| Organizational Behavior | 4482 | 60% |
| Principles of Public Speaking* | 1900 | 55% |
| Environmental Science | 529 | 53% |
| Introduction to Law Enforcement | 341 | 51% |
| Lifespan Developmental Psychology | 332 | 51% |
| Technical Writing | 420 | 50% |
| Introduction to World Religions | 1000 | 49% |
| Ethics in America | 1457 | 47% |
| Astronomy | 309 | 47% |
| Fundamentals of Cyber Security | 334 | 43% |
| Criminal Justice | 257 | 43% |
| Substance Abuse | 752 | 43% |
| Money & Banking | 141 | 41% |
| General Anthropology | 213 | 41% |
| History of The Soviet Union | 310 | 39% |
| A History of The Vietnam War | 553 | 38% |
| Foundations of Education | 74 | 36% |
| Principles of Physical Science I | 145 | 34% |
| Principles of Statistics | 551 | 33% |
| Prin. of Advanced English Comp | 1189 | 33% |
| Human Cultural Geography | 353 | 32% |
| The Civil War and Reconstruction | 417 | 32% |
| Human Resource Management | 1987 | 26% |
| Fundamentals of Counseling | 202 | 22% |
| Principles of Finance | 215 | 18% |
| Fundamentals of College Algebra | 822 | 16% |
| Business Mathematics | 73 | 14% |
| Art in The Western World | 99 | 6% |
| Math For Liberal Arts | 410 | 3% |
* It’s unclear whether the Public Speaking exam includes those who took the speaking portion of the exam.
What’s the difference between civilian and military pass rates?
Many military members are able to take CLEP and DSST exams for free. Because of this, military test takers are more likely to attempt exams ‘cold’ or with minimal studying. While this isn’t true across the board, it explains the overall lower pass rates for military vs civilian test takers.