Idea for topic -- traditional schools that take CLE

[CLEP_enthusiast]

Do you guys think anybody would be interested in a thread that shows the local colleges and universities(traditional schools) that take the most CLEP credits?

I was just on the CLEP website and noticed Miami Dade College, which I think is down in Florida accepts 45 credit hours of test credit. That's HUGE for a traditional school, and if you're going to graduate school you kind of have to graduate from a traditional school. Well if you want to be able to go anywhere you want.

Most colleges allow up to 30 hours of test credit in my area, with some restrictions like you can't have test credit once you're at the junior or senior level. Ekk. The testing center at your college should be able to inform you about these, so plan accordingly. Schools are desperate for money, so know the rules.

So, yeah is anybody else interested in this? If so, I'll try to assemble a formal list in the appropriate forum. Maybe a FAQ on the general policies too of how traditional colleges and universities accept test credit. maybe I'll write an eBook on it or something

[rebel100]

All CC's in Florida will take 45 CBE. Most Florida Public Universities will accept up to 90 CBE. Though there are many degree plans one cannot test out of. UL credit by exam is very weak.....

My daughter had 30 some odd CBE for her AA.

[Tedium]

There are already a few threads like that floating around.

I posted on this one: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...redux.html

Also, I think you'll find some people here that disagree with your opinions on graduate school.

[CLEP_enthusiast]

45 credit hours is sweet. My issue would be that the truth of the matter, all the programs are selective in themselves, and so you can't go based solely on what the school accepts from the CLEP website. It's all about which department/program you're going into accepts, be education/nursing(My Uni doesn't accept Educational Psychology in their program). I guess they feel passing the test isn't equivalent knowledge or you learn something different when you take the actual class. One thing's for sure, colleges need money and every time a traditional school grants one credit they lose money, same for transfer courses. College is so shady it seems sometimes, but I guess they need to turn a profit like anyone other business? I hear some schools are flat broke, initially I balked at this but the way schools spend money I think the jury is still out for me.

To clarify about graduate school. I'm just saying I have initial doubts with a degree Thomas Edison through self-study if this would get me into a graduate program in biology at say the University of Kansas. I don't understand what the requirements for the degree are, maybe it would get you in, but I think becoming a professor is not a good career path. But that's another discussion entirely.

Thanks for sharing the additional threads, good thing I asked first.

There are already a few threads like that floating around.

I posted on this one: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...redux.html

Also, I think you'll find some people here that disagree with your opinions on graduate school.

[Tedium]

A degree from the Big 3 may not get you into every good school, but it has the potential to get you into some good schools. Like a wise person once said to me: you don't need to get into every good school, just one. A lot of that is based on degree requirements.

For instance: I am hoping to get a BA in English at COSC, but that degree isn't enough to get me into some graduate schools based solely on foreign language requirements. There are ways to get around that, though. I could study on my own time or get a tutor and pass some FL CLEPs. A lot of the schools also allow you to make up your FL deficiencies at that school within the first few semesters of attendance.

Like everything else on this CBE journey graduate school is going to take some calling and digging and legwork. It may take some convincing, on the extreme end of the spectrum, but it would not be impossible. You could also potentially take a few courses before you are admitted to prove your eligibility for enrollment. There is usually always another way to approach a challenge.

[keylargo_diver]

"I was just on the CLEP website and noticed Miami Dade College, which I think is down in Florida accepts 45 credit hours of test credit. That's HUGE for a traditional school,"

I take my CLEPs at Miami Dade. They only award credit for tests that line up with a class they offer. They told me for example that I could get credit for US History I but not for the Social Science and History General exam. I am sure other schools have similar restrictions so it pays to check in advance.

[Leherself]

A lot of the time it's just not as simple as "This school accepts x number of CLEP/DSST credits". For instance, my local state university accepts CLEP and other credit by exam. There's no set cap, though the school does have a 30 credit residency requirement for graduation, and none of your transfer credit counts toward your GPA. However, they only accept certain exams, and most of them are for elective credit rather than direct class equivalency. They also have their own cut-off scores, instead of accepting the cut-off scores recommended by CLEP or DANTES. The tests are also not necessarily granted the amount of credit recommended by the testing companies. You really have to examine each school's policies completely, and it can be complicated.

For instance, at my local school, the CLEP Biology exam instead of counting for six credits, counts as four - it's considered equivalent to the Intro Biology w/ Lab course that they offer, *if* you score at least 58. However, for science majors, it is *not* considered equivalent to the two-course eight-credit Fundamentals of Biology, which is a pre-requisite for every subsequent biology course. If you score above 60 on the exam, you can petition to have the Fundamentals of Biology pre-requisite requirement waived, but the exam still only counts as four credits and you have to make up the difference by taking an extra advanced biology class. The Chemistry exam only counts for elective credit, and doesn't even count as a science GER.

Similarly, the university accepts the DSST Statistics exam as equivalent to a 200-level statistics course. However, it is *not* considered equivalent to, and it does not replace, the 300-level statistics course that is required by all Bachelor of Science seekers at that school.

They also only grant three credits apiece for any of the CLEP Literature exams. On the other hand, they give extra credits for the language exams (16 instead of twelve, if you pass one at the more advanced level), because they count each semester of foreign language as a four credit class instead of three.

If you pass either of the CLEP economics exams with a 50, then they count as an elective course. If you pass with a 58 or better, then they count as course equivalent to ECON A201 or A202, and it satisfies a Social Science GER.

And these are just a few of the details. So clearly, it would be misleading to say that the University of Alaska accepts up to 90 credits of CBE, when the real story is so much more complicated.

[cookderosa]

yeah, I don't think anyone gets to go anywhere they want if where they want are highly selective programs with fat stipends. If you'll settle from the other 99% of graduate programs, having a few CLEPs won't hurt you.
The CLEP and DSST websites already maintain databases on this info, so you could start there.