Max credit through exam

[bbqgal]

I am totally new to this but very excited that I found a way to continue education without a huge price tag and flexible schedule. So I want to finish my AS and then seeking for a BA.

Currently, I have about 30 credits from a credited tech school.

My questions is, other than the big three, how many credits do most school accept from CLEP, DSST, etc? My friend told me, each school is only taking 30 max. Is that true? I know my community school will take 30 from CLEP. Does that mean combined with the other 30 credits, I only need to take 1-2 courses to get my AS?

[cookderosa]

I am totally new to this but very excited that I found a way to continue education without a huge price tag and flexible schedule. So I want to finish my AS and then seeking for a BA.

Currently, I have about 30 credits from a credited tech school.

My questions is, other than the big three, how many credits do most school accept from CLEP, DSST, etc? My friend told me, each school is only taking 30 max. Is that true? I know my community school will take 30 from CLEP. Does that mean combined with the other 30 credits, I only need to take 1-2 courses to get my AS?

Your friend is guessing.
Each school decides for themselves how many credit they accept from all sources.
Some schools allow 30, but others may allow as few as 12 or as many as 45 for an associate's degree- so you have to look at each school you are considering.
If a school says they accept X transfer credit, that number is not to be confused with CLEP credit. Not the same, so to answer your last question, let me explain one more thing-
your credit must be distributed into proper categories, you can't just randomly complete 60 credits and call it a degree. You'll need a certain amount in each area (math, English, etc) and so your entire plan must fall into place, it takes planning.
Also, your tech school's specific accreditation is important. There isn't one type of accreditation, there are several, so it's transferability depends on whether or not it was REGIONALLY accredited. I don't want to scare you, but sometimes tech schools are NATIONALLY accredited which doesn't always transfer - ESPECIALLY into a public community college where there are pretty strict rules.
I'd suggest you look up your tech school's accreditation and check your community college's website, you'll be able to do most of this preliminary stuff from home.
Look it up here: Search Institutional Accreditation System

[bbqgal]

Your friend is guessing.
Each school decides for themselves how many credit they accept from all sources.
Some schools allow 30, but others may allow as few as 12 or as many as 45 for an associate's degree- so you have to look at each school you are considering.
If a school says they accept X transfer credit, that number is not to be confused with CLEP credit. Not the same, so to answer your last question, let me explain one more thing-
your credit must be distributed into proper categories, you can't just randomly complete 60 credits and call it a degree. You'll need a certain amount in each area (math, English, etc) and so your entire plan must fall into place, it takes planning.
Also, your tech school's specific accreditation is important. There isn't one type of accreditation, there are several, so it's transferability depends on whether or not it was REGIONALLY accredited. I don't want to scare you, but sometimes tech schools are NATIONALLY accredited which doesn't always transfer - ESPECIALLY into a public community college where there are pretty strict rules.
I'd suggest you look up your tech school's accreditation and check your community college's website, you'll be able to do most of this preliminary stuff from home.
Look it up here: Search Institutional Accreditation System

Thanks for your reply!

I've seen an adviser at the community college before taking any CLEP tests and he confirmed that about 30 credits from the tech school will be able to transfer. Most of those are not general education subjects. And, they accept 30 credits from CLEP. (Which are mostly general subjects. ) So, if I plan carefully, maybe there is a chance that I only need to take 1-2 course at the community college?

[UptonSinclair]

You should look into the residency requirement at your community college. Most require a minimum of 15 credits to be taken through them to receive a degree.

[cookderosa]

Thanks for your reply!

I've seen an adviser at the community college before taking any CLEP tests and he confirmed that about 30 credits from the tech school will be able to transfer. Most of those are not general education subjects. And, they accept 30 credits from CLEP. (Which are mostly general subjects. ) So, if I plan carefully, maybe there is a chance that I only need to take 1-2 course at the community college?

Like Sinclair said- check for a "residency requirement" number of credits that must be earned there. You can get 30 credits, but if they overflow the allowed spaces, then they are transferred but not counted if that makes sense. An AS, AA, AOS, AAS, are all a little different at each school, so you might find more credits count in one plan vs another. Also, do you mind saying what field you're in or if you're planning on going beyond the associate's degree? Sometimes that matters.

[publius2k4]

My questions is, other than the big three, how many credits do most school accept from CLEP, DSST, etc? My friend told me, each school is only taking 30 max. Is that true? I know my community school will take 30 from CLEP. Does that mean combined with the other 30 credits, I only need to take 1-2 courses to get my AS?

As already stated, it's up to the individual school how many CBE's and Transfer credits they accept.

As far as needing only 1-2 courses to get your degree: Mathematically, that is correct, but you have to make sure that you are meeting all the credit requirements, not only the required number of credits. For example, for my BS, I only needed 120 credits to graduate, but I graduated with 129. This is because even though I had 120 credits at one point, I still had not met all credit requirements for graduation.

[ladylearner]

I know it's been nearly a month since this thread started but I just wanted to add that oftentimes when a school says it will accept up to a certain # of credits by exam, that is included in your transfer credits.

To give you a real life example, I just applied at Ashford and they accept 90 transfer credits (which is not uncommon) but of those 90 only 75 can be from non-traditional sources like ACE classes, testing, etc.

You will definitely want to do your homework and plan strategically. You don't want to spend time and money on testing only to be told you have exceeded the # of transfer credits.

[cookderosa]

I know it's been nearly a month since this thread started but I just wanted to add that oftentimes when a school says it will accept up to a certain # of credits by exam, that is included in your transfer credits.

To give you a real life example, I just applied at Ashford and they accept 90 transfer credits (which is not uncommon) but of those 90 only 75 can be from non-traditional sources like ACE classes, testing, etc.

You will definitely want to do your homework and plan strategically. You don't want to spend time and money on testing only to be told you have exceeded the # of transfer credits.

You're right. you should spend your time, money and effort planning. Then testing. Good luck though.

[Gaz]

In Florida most public RA schools accept 45 credits by examination. The residency requirement is usually 25% (credits toward the degree). It is possible to take 5 classes online and test out of the rest for an AA. I should also mention that they are fairly receptive to ACE credit.

These are the exams that Saint Petersburg College accepts (most FL schools):
http://www.spcollege.edu/pages/dynamic.aspx?id=1316

[Gaz]

Here is the same list from University of South Florida.

USF Undergraduate Studies - Student Success - Credit-by-Exam Equivalents