RBOWMAN Wrote:I'd be real interested to hear everyone's opinion on cooperation they have rec'd from their college regarding clep and dantes programs. I have always heard that Thomas Edison, Excelsior, and Ohio U. were the best in cooperating and facilitating degree earning in a timely fashion. Thoughts..pros ,cons.. suggestions on pitfalls to avoid?
I think most colleges do allow a certain amount of credits to be earned via CLEP/DANTES. However, they make it very hard to find the information. They LOSE MONEY whenever a student passes an exam instead of paying for the full course.
Most places I have looked at only allow 30 credits. Penn State allows up to 60 credits. That's half a degree....pretty cool! But the pdf file detailing this policy is very well hidden within the deepest, darkest recesses of their site.
In addition, every college has different rules about which exams are acceptable, how the credits are applied within any given degree plan, what the passing score is, and how many credits are awarded per exam.
Example:
Penn State doesn't accept CLEP Biology or Chemistry at all. They award FIVE credits for CLEP College Algebra & Trigonometry. But they only award THREE credits for most of the 6-credit exams (such as Interpreting and Analyzing Literature, American Literature, English Literature, and all the General CLEP exams)
From what I have seen, it seems that CLEP is more generally accepted than DANTES.
CLEP and DANTES testing is apparently the best kept secret in the American education system. If only people knew!
Of course, not everyone can pass these exams, or study on their own. I have told several people about the potential to earn credit by exam who said that they didn't think they could ever do that. Instead, they are paying through the nose, and taking four months to pass each course. Meanwhile I have been taking exams for five months and am already half way through my degree...suckers! Heehee!
So, in many cases, even knowing about CLEP and DANTES is not enough to convince some people of the value of proficiency exams.
Fear is probably their biggest hurdle. If they could just study for and pass ONE exam, I think they would be addicted to it...and save themselves thousands of dollars and years of sitting through traditional college courses.
We're all nervous at first! I put off taking my first exam for a month after I had already studied and was amply prepared. In the end, I took the plunge and took THREE exams on that first day. Passed all three with scores of 76, 73, and 71. That was it for me...I was addicted, and I have never looked back.
You all know exactly what I mean, don't you?
hilarious
Thank God for CLEP, DANTES, and the Big Three!
Snazzlefrag