Quote:It's no secret: the cost to earn a college degree is on the rise.

Even at community colleges, often considered a low-cost option, average tuition increased from $2,272 in 2006-2007 to $3,260 in 2013-2014.

Testing out of courses, via the College Level Examination Program, administered by the College Board, or other credit-by-exam options, can help students save time and money on their way to their degree by earning credit for what they already know.

Credit-by-exam programs helped Kari Avery, a piano teacher and secretary in Colorado, finish her associate degree in just one year. Avery earned 30 credits toward her associate degree at Dixie State College in Utah in the month before she started classes. She later transferred to Charter Oak State College in Connecticut to work toward a bachelor's degree and racked up almost 50 additional credits through tests from the College Board and DSST, a prior learning assessment offered by Prometric, an exam provider.

"In total, the time I spent enrolled in any college in order to get my degree was three years, and the amount of time I spent taking classes from a college instead of testing was only five semesters," Avery says. "The rest of the time I was studying on my own and sometimes getting a full semester of credits in a week."

[Learn how competency-based programs can help you earn a degree at your own pace.]

This option can be especially appealing to community college students, who spend up to five years, on average, to earn what is billed as a two-year degree, according to a 2011 report from Complete College America, a nonprofit focused on increasing the number of Americans with a college degree.

Students should do their research before testing for credits, though, as not all colleges accept the exams and those that do still vary in how they apply the credits, says Janice Karlen, a professor and coordinator of credit for prior learning at CUNY LaGuardia Community College in New York.

Asking these four questions can help students determine whether to pursue prior learning assessments.

1. How are the credits applied? The very first question students should ask is whether the college they are attending or plan to attend awards credit for CLEP or similar exams.

The second question: How are those credits applied?

"Some institutions consider it transfer credit and it will go against the maximum number of courses a student may transfer into a school," Karlen says. "If someone has many credits in transfer, they may not be able to use CLEP, and they may not be given a choice as to which credits will be accepted."

[Do your research before transferring from community college.]

Other schools treat CLEP exams as exemptions – allowing students to test out of a prerequisite, for example – but do not award credit, she says.

Additionally, some colleges only count CLEP and DSST exam credit as electives, so students cannot test out of courses required for their major, says Amy Fitzgerald from JumpCourse, an online learning company that offers prep courses for CLEP, Advanced Placement and DSST exams.

2. How many credits can you earn? Most colleges cap the number of credits a student can transfer in, but some also cap how many students can earn via exam, Fitzgerald says.

"This varies pretty widely – from 12 credits up to 60-plus – and some schools include AP credits in the cap," she says.

Students who earned college credit while in high school through dual enrollment or AP tests should find out if those will count against the number of courses they can test out of.

[Discover five keys to success in Advanced Placement courses.]

3. What are your long-term plans? Teaching, nursing, accounting and other career paths require professional licensure for students entering the field after graduation. In many cases, students need to accumulate a set number of credit hours before they can take their licensing exam.

Credits earned via CLEP or another prior learning assessment may not count toward that requirement.

In New York, for example, only certain CLEP credits are recognized by the State Education Department. In other states, certain prior learning credits do not count toward the minimum number of hours needed to take the certified public accountant exam.

Students planning to transfer to a four-year college should also know whether credits earned via prior learning assessments are accepted, and how much they are worth, Avery says.

4. How do you learn best? Self-motivated, independent learners are typically well suited for credit-by-exam programs.

Avery, for example, says she was accustomed to learning on her own and saw CLEP as a fun way to earn college credit.

"I'm a very individual learner and I was always home-schooled," she says. "So, for me, I think it was the best thing in the world to do my college studying about all the subjects I wanted, and then get credit for it by exam, for so much less money than other courses."

Students with test anxiety or a general dislike for standardized tests should think twice before pursuing credit this way, says Bryce Avery, Kari's father, who developed a series of apps to help students study for CLEP and Advanced Placement exams.

"[Kari's] younger sister is equally smart but can't stand tests, so she didn't follow her sister's footsteps," he says.