Disappointment

[cowgirl]

My son wanted to join the Army, he has a GED.
The Army recruiter in Tacoma, WA said he needed 16 college credits.
The recruiter said they could be in "underwater basket weaving". That the subject does not matter.
My son studied and went to SPSCC in Olympia He passed three different CLEP tests.
He went to the recruiter, the recruiter said he needed a transcript from a accredited college. My son asked SPSCC for transcript, They said they could not give him one for the courses he took because they are not accepted on their degrees.
I thought the CLEP was designed for the military!
It seems we wasted 3 months of studying and $300.00.

[GoodYellowDogs]

DSSTs were designed for the military. He could get CLEP credit by enrolling in Excelsior (in the AS/AA program) or some other DL program. I'm sure others here will have lots of ideas! :coolgleam:

[P00057870]

Why not call the recruiter and see if he will accept a transcript from CLEP?

[BrandeX]

Open up a credit bank at TESC and have the CLEP's put on there. If that is still not good enough, do up a few days of FEMA online courses for free and transfer those over to the TESC credit bank transcript, then you should be good to go.

[cookderosa]

My son wanted to join the Army, he has a GED.
The Army recruiter in Tacoma, WA said he needed 16 college credits.
The recruiter said they could be in "underwater basket weaving". That the subject does not matter.
My son studied and went to SPSCC in Olympia He passed three different CLEP tests.
He went to the recruiter, the recruiter said he needed a transcript from a accredited college. My son asked SPSCC for transcript, They said they could not give him one for the courses he took because they are not accepted on their degrees.
I thought the CLEP was designed for the military!
It seems we wasted 3 months of studying and $300.00.

Don't be disappointed. Let me help you.

First, congrats to your son!!! His investment of $300 was a good one. You just have to know what CLEP is and what it isn't and how to use it properly.

Ok, so CLEP is a brand name of test offered by The College Board. The College Board is a private company, not a college. Now, as you know, MANY colleges will award credit for completing a CLEP test.

So, how do you turn a good score on a CLEP into college credit? The recruiter is right, it needs to be done by a college. The College Board doesn't have the authority to grant credit, remember they just deliver the test. But, don't worry.

The easiest thing to do (which you did) is start close to home. Your local college. You found that while they offer the tests, it appears as if they don't award credit for those exams. Bummer, but no biggie. You can use the internet to start looking at every community college in your city/state and you'll be able to find a college before tomorrow. Alternate idea- people here can give you the name of a dozen or so without even looking

Your son needs to enroll in college. Now, he doesn't need to "do" anything, only enroll. He doesn't need to take classes or work on a degree, or even plan on graduating- he just needs to enroll. I DO NOT recommend Thomas Edison or Excelsior because they charge enrollment fees. No reason to throw away money. Many colleges (most) charge a fee for the application process, that is what he will have to pay. Expect an application fee of about $50. *if you want to invest the time, you can narrow down your list to schools without application fees, various schools waive fees from time to time, so it could happen.

Next, once he applies to college, he needs to send his official transcripts from prior college. Now, this is when you have to send his College Board (CLEP) transcript to them. This will cost $20. They will then "evaluate his credits" toward the completion of the degree he is applying for. Once his credit has been evaluated, he can request a copy of his transcript, and his CLEP credits will be listed as credit. It's like money laundering, but you are laundering credits. Credits on CLEP transcript are not credit until they appear on a college transcript.

My number one suggestion is that he complete this process through American Military University. This is also called APUS because it is a combo American Military University and American Public University in one school. These guys are military rock stars. Working with military is WHAT THEY DO. American Public University System When his service is over, he can use his GI Bill money there too, and they have a history of charging only the cost he is given (which is less than most colleges). Anyway, I believe he can be 100% honest and upfront with APSU admissions and an advisor and explain to them what he has done and what he hopes to do. They, of course, will be happy to have him take classes (online) or log other CLEP credits that he may complete. CLEP credits are good for 20 years, so he can likely earn an associate's degree very quickly if he uses CLEP, DSST, and AMU classes. Certainly in less than 2 years. But, in any event, even if he takes 1-2 exams per year (for free once he is enlisted), he'll be well on his way to earning his associates degree! Plus, they have the coolest majors for military men- THE coolest! No, I don't work for them lol.


Beyond 2 year community colleges (there are HUNDREDS to choose from) they vary greatly in their policy. It's a slower process to search, but it can be done. I'll suggest the college I work for simply because I know you can use up to 45 credits out of 60 toward your AA degree, and we award 8 credits for sciences.

Scott Community College EICCD Home Page - Eastern Iowa Community College District

These 4-year schools will not have enrollment fees and all accept CLEP/DSST in generous amounts.

American Military University /American Public University American Public University System
Ashford University http://www.ashford.edu
Andrew Jackson University Accredited Online Degrees || Andrew Jackson University

Do you mind saying which exams he passed?

[BrandeX]

These schools will give out their own transcripts from applicant students who didn't enroll? I ask because he already took the exams at a test center located in a commuinity college and they refused to give him the option of applying to get it on a transcript. If that works though it could be a way to save some cash. Otherwise if there was an issue though, TESC credit bank costs $400 and doesn't require enrollment. They are even the number one educator of military personell in the US as well not that it would matter for this purpose

Here is a quick link with some good info in case anyone else comes across this thread in the future and wants some quick credits for 400 bucks (by using FEMA and TESAC in this case) prior to enlisting, so they can enter at a higher grade: FEMA Independent Study Courses for College Credit - All Military

[cookderosa]

These schools will give out their own transcripts from applicant students who didn't enroll? I ask because he already took the exams at a test center located in a community college and they refused to give him the option of applying to get it on a transcript. If that works though it could be a way to save some cash. Otherwise if there was an issue though, TESC credit bank costs $400 and doesn't require enrollment. They are even the number one educator of military personell in the US as well not that it would matter for this purpose

Here is a quick link with some good info in case anyone else comes across this thread in the future and wants some quick credits for 400 bucks (by using FEMA and TESAC in this case) prior to enlisting, so they can enter at a higher grade: FEMA Independent Study Courses for College Credit - All Military

That's not what she said. Her community college didn't award CLEP credit for the tests he took, so if he enrolled there, once his transcripts were evaluated he'd have zero credit. A waste of time. He needs to enroll somewhere that awards CLEP credit and have his transcripts evaluated by them. IF this testing center were in a community college that ALSO accepted CLEP, he could have simply filled out an application, had his credit evaluated and he would be holding a transcript today. A "testing center" is a service offered by a college, so your transcripts are never held by that college "just because" you tested there. It's about the same as saying you ate lunch in the cafeteria or shopped the bookstore --> therefor you are a student. Using the service DOES NOT make you a student. Also, offering the services to the public does not mean that college accepts CLEP. Also, many colleges accept CLEP and do not offer the testing center services. You have to keep them separate in your mind.

Yes, you can go down and enroll at your local community college and never take a class. You can do this at some colleges for free, many charge a fee. BUT only do this when you know they accept CLEP. You can use The College Board's data base as a good tool for searching. They allow you to filter for "accepts CLEP credit" vs "is a testing center." HTH

P.S. I'm not going to go through all the reasons I think credit banks are a waste of money *bordering on scam* unless the op has questions.

[ShotoJuku]

www.excelsior.edu :iagree:

[BrandeX]

Ok, that's good to know, thanks for the tip.

[Maniac Craniac]

College credit is required to join the army these days? :willynilly: