University Requires High CLEP Scores for One Subject Only?

[atroph]

Hello,

I am currently a senior at a B&M and have found out that my institution requires a 64 for all of the History CLEP exams and aligns with the ACE recommendations for the rest. I also did some quick research on other Universities throughout the state (VA) and found that they too go with the standard 50 for all of the History exams as well as all of the other core classes.

I am currently disputing this to the department chair as it seems illogical to have this precedent for History only. My first response from the department chair was "Our standards are high! Are you reluctant to take a course this fall? Are you having trouble finding an open course?" as he may have thought that I was a prospective student as I went through the registrar first since they handle most of the transfer credits.

IMO his response is BS and doesn't make sense as I can take (an probably will have to) US History I at the local community college and make a C and then roll it in to my 4 year institution in order to graduate.

I sent a response and haven't heard anything from the department chair since the 12th so I followed up again. I plan on heading to the Academic Dean (his boss) if I don't get something that validates his claims.

Anyone else ever fought the system and have any pointers?

My responses:

1:
" I am only reluctant on taking History this fall as I am tentatively a graduating senior this summer and I have taken the CLEP tests for US History I and II with passing scores for every institution in the state of Virginia with the exception of XXX. So my question is why does XXX have a CLEP score policy that is higher than the rest of the state and more than likely the rest of the institutions nationwide that accept this test as acceptable credit? Looking at the SCHEV website XXX follows suit with the other institutions throughout Virginia in regards to AP/DANTES/CLEP credits awarded per score but breaks ranks with its CLEP score requirement in History only.

Is there a way to change the policy to align with the rest of the state, be granted a waiver from the History department, or any other method that would allow me to graduate by the end of the summer vice waiting another term to take a single class? "

2:
"Dr. XXX,
Have you had a chance to evaluate my previous email quoted below?

Do you have an official or unofficial position as to why XXX requires score in History that is 14 points higher than the recommended level or a score that is 7-8 points higher than the B- level?

Doing some more research I have found that for all other core classes XXX adheres to the score of 50 for CLEP credit granting. On average if XXX requires a higher score than the ACE recommended limit it is 3-5 points higher than the recommended levels, and this only applies to the Business and Foreign Language departments.

According to the American Council of Education (ACE) a score of 50 equates to the level of a C- in US History and Western Civilization subjects. Now they (ACE) have taken the same scaled score and equated it to a B- equivalent and those numbers are 56 for the first portions of the course (US History I and Western Civilization I), and 57 for the second portions of the course (US History II and Western Civilization II). Given the scaled scores for a B- it can be calculated that the XXX score of 64 equates to the level of an A. According to the transfer credit policy "Only those Courses with a grade of "C" and above will transfer". So that means that I can take the same course at XXX and transfer it in at a C level, but can not "test out" of the course without an equivalent score of an A. Do you see this as an inconsistency as I do?

Source: ACE Credit Recommendations | CLEP

Is it possible that the required score of 64 is from the past when the tests were evaluated differently and have not been revised to the current ACE recommendations?

If this is out of your scope of duties can you direct me to the representative of the Undergraduate Academic Policy and Procedures committee for the College of Arts and Letters so that I may voice my concern?

Sincerely,
Me
"

[koenigtv]

It's not uncommon for universities to have different or higher acceptance scores for CLEP tests. In my research this has been more common with economics scores for business majors or English scores for admissions. I don't think it is likely they will waive their requirement but you never know until you try. Good luck.

[UptonSinclair]

Your efforts would be better spent studying for the CLEP. In the time and energy you have spent on this, you could raise a CLEP score significantly.

[cathgrl]

The B&M school I went to wouldn't accept CLEP in the history department. At all. It was that way 30 years ago when I attended, and it's that way now. Wait six months, retake the CLEP, but study beforehand.

[koenigtv]

If your school accepts Straighterline you can take Hist 1 and 2 and Western Civ 1 and 2 with SL.

[soliloquy]

Hello,

I am currently a senior at a B&M and have found out that my institution requires a 64 for all of the History CLEP exams and aligns with the ACE recommendations for the rest. I also did some quick research on other Universities throughout the state (VA) and found that they too go with the standard 50 for all of the History exams as well as all of the other core classes.

I am currently disputing this to the department chair as it seems illogical to have this precedent for History only. My first response from the department chair was "Our standards are high! Are you reluctant to take a course this fall? Are you having trouble finding an open course?" as he may have thought that I was a prospective student as I went through the registrar first since they handle most of the transfer credits.

IMO his response is BS and doesn't make sense as I can take (an probably will have to) US History I at the local community college and make a C and then roll it in to my 4 year institution in order to graduate.

I sent a response and haven't heard anything from the department chair since the 12th so I followed up again. I plan on heading to the Academic Dean (his boss) if I don't get something that validates his claims.

Anyone else ever fought the system and have any pointers?

My responses:

1:
" I am only reluctant on taking History this fall as I am tentatively a graduating senior this summer and I have taken the CLEP tests for US History I and II with passing scores for every institution in the state of Virginia with the exception of XXX. So my question is why does XXX have a CLEP score policy that is higher than the rest of the state and more than likely the rest of the institutions nationwide that accept this test as acceptable credit? Looking at the SCHEV website XXX follows suit with the other institutions throughout Virginia in regards to AP/DANTES/CLEP credits awarded per score but breaks ranks with its CLEP score requirement in History only.

Is there a way to change the policy to align with the rest of the state, be granted a waiver from the History department, or any other method that would allow me to graduate by the end of the summer vice waiting another term to take a single class? "

2:
"Dr. XXX,
Have you had a chance to evaluate my previous email quoted below?

Do you have an official or unofficial position as to why XXX requires score in History that is 14 points higher than the recommended level or a score that is 7-8 points higher than the B- level?

Doing some more research I have found that for all other core classes XXX adheres to the score of 50 for CLEP credit granting. On average if XXX requires a higher score than the ACE recommended limit it is 3-5 points higher than the recommended levels, and this only applies to the Business and Foreign Language departments.

According to the American Council of Education (ACE) a score of 50 equates to the level of a C- in US History and Western Civilization subjects. Now they (ACE) have taken the same scaled score and equated it to a B- equivalent and those numbers are 56 for the first portions of the course (US History I and Western Civilization I), and 57 for the second portions of the course (US History II and Western Civilization II). Given the scaled scores for a B- it can be calculated that the XXX score of 64 equates to the level of an A. According to the transfer credit policy "Only those Courses with a grade of "C" and above will transfer". So that means that I can take the same course at XXX and transfer it in at a C level, but can not "test out" of the course without an equivalent score of an A. Do you see this as an inconsistency as I do?

Source: ACE Credit Recommendations | CLEP

Is it possible that the required score of 64 is from the past when the tests were evaluated differently and have not been revised to the current ACE recommendations?

If this is out of your scope of duties can you direct me to the representative of the Undergraduate Academic Policy and Procedures committee for the College of Arts and Letters so that I may voice my concern?

Sincerely,
Me
"

It will be interesting to see the outcome of your request. I think you make a valid argument when taking into account the scaled scores and the grade ACE is presumed to assign to the scores. I'll say also that this is not terribly uncommon. In my experience a lot of schools have different passing scores for the variety of tests that CLEP offers.

If the school does not change it's standards, don't let that discourage you. Keep in mind that the colleges can do what they want with those tests. I've seen colleges give passing scores for a 47 which is below the recommendation. I've seen colleges accept 4 of the numerous CLEP tests and not accept the remainder of them. So just continuing studying for this exam (I'm sure you are) while you wait for a response from the school. I don't think it ever hurts to ask but you don't want to put all of your effort into fighting the system when you could beat the system with the same amount of energy by studying.

[cookderosa]

Hello,

I am currently a senior at a B&M and have found out that my institution requires a 64 for all of the History CLEP exams and aligns with the ACE recommendations for the rest. I also did some quick research on other Universities throughout the state (VA) and found that they too go with the standard 50 for all of the History exams as well as all of the other core classes.

I am currently disputing this to the department chair as it seems illogical to have this precedent for History only. My first response from the department chair was "Our standards are high! Are you reluctant to take a course this fall? Are you having trouble finding an open course?" as he may have thought that I was a prospective student as I went through the registrar first since they handle most of the transfer credits.

IMO his response is BS and doesn't make sense as I can take (an probably will have to) US History I at the local community college and make a C and then roll it in to my 4 year institution in order to graduate.

I sent a response and haven't heard anything from the department chair since the 12th so I followed up again. I plan on heading to the Academic Dean (his boss) if I don't get something that validates his claims.

Anyone else ever fought the system and have any pointers?

My responses:

1:
" I am only reluctant on taking History this fall as I am tentatively a graduating senior this summer and I have taken the CLEP tests for US History I and II with passing scores for every institution in the state of Virginia with the exception of XXX. So my question is why does XXX have a CLEP score policy that is higher than the rest of the state and more than likely the rest of the institutions nationwide that accept this test as acceptable credit? Looking at the SCHEV website XXX follows suit with the other institutions throughout Virginia in regards to AP/DANTES/CLEP credits awarded per score but breaks ranks with its CLEP score requirement in History only.

Is there a way to change the policy to align with the rest of the state, be granted a waiver from the History department, or any other method that would allow me to graduate by the end of the summer vice waiting another term to take a single class? "

2:
"Dr. XXX,
Have you had a chance to evaluate my previous email quoted below?

Do you have an official or unofficial position as to why XXX requires score in History that is 14 points higher than the recommended level or a score that is 7-8 points higher than the B- level?

Doing some more research I have found that for all other core classes XXX adheres to the score of 50 for CLEP credit granting. On average if XXX requires a higher score than the ACE recommended limit it is 3-5 points higher than the recommended levels, and this only applies to the Business and Foreign Language departments.

According to the American Council of Education (ACE) a score of 50 equates to the level of a C- in US History and Western Civilization subjects. Now they (ACE) have taken the same scaled score and equated it to a B- equivalent and those numbers are 56 for the first portions of the course (US History I and Western Civilization I), and 57 for the second portions of the course (US History II and Western Civilization II). Given the scaled scores for a B- it can be calculated that the XXX score of 64 equates to the level of an A. According to the transfer credit policy "Only those Courses with a grade of "C" and above will transfer". So that means that I can take the same course at XXX and transfer it in at a C level, but can not "test out" of the course without an equivalent score of an A. Do you see this as an inconsistency as I do?

Source: ACE Credit Recommendations | CLEP

Is it possible that the required score of 64 is from the past when the tests were evaluated differently and have not been revised to the current ACE recommendations?

If this is out of your scope of duties can you direct me to the representative of the Undergraduate Academic Policy and Procedures committee for the College of Arts and Letters so that I may voice my concern?

Sincerely,
Me
"

Yep, like koenigtv says, it's really not uncommon. You'll find that some schools simply go with the ACE recommendation, but not everyone. You'll find this across the board- AP exams, SAT exams, ACT exams, etc. My guess, is that the history department at your school simply stepped up and voiced their opinion. I wish I could remember who, but I once saw a minimum score requirement of 70. LOL My opinion, is that you're using WAYYYYY too much brain space emailing the professor. Check the box and graduate.

[rebel100]

Not at all uncommon. and there are also schools that will also add components to exams such as written papers. Bottom line is that the school gets to decide what they will accept, what the cut off score is, and how many credits to offer.

The only hope you may have would be if your school participates in a consortium or statewide system that allows a lower score on the given exam. For example Florida has a statewide numbering system, but the system is a bit inconsistent. Due to the inconsistency I was able to get a CC registrar to accept DSST Algebra for "College Algebra", even though they argued it was only worth Intermediate. But in this case the school had the exam listed improperly in their own catalog.

Get to studying and go score a 64 or better....or as an option, find an independent studies course that's accepted, cheap and easy and transfer it in. CSU-pueblo, LSU, and University of Idaho would be good places to start looking.

[BGSU_Alum_86]

It is possible that this department gained access to CLEP's Interpretive Score Data charts. Looking at my chart a scaled score of 64 works out to about a 73% in regards to the questions that are scored.

[cookderosa]

It is possible that this department gained access to CLEP's Interpretive Score Data charts. Looking at my chart a scaled score of 64 works out to about a 73% in regards to the questions that are scored.

That might be true, but that doesn't mean that 50 is less than 70%. It's not 1:1 but the score charts that are used to scale that exam are not public. This is a good point that you brought up because this question hasn't been asked in a while. But for those trying to figure this out, the data is scaled so that the equivalency score matches real people's scores at various grades. So, if real people who averaged grade "C" in US History 1 were to take the CLEP exam, they'd score X.

I have an old set of charts, and it differs across the board, so you might need 60% to score a 50 on one exam, and 70% to score 50 on another.