“Can I Make An Entire College Degree Out Of CLEP Credits?”

[Bibby]

I'm sure there are some colleges where you can get an A.A. degree solely from CLEP credit, and maybe an A.S. degree in business or something. However, CLEP only awards lower-level credit, so you obviously can't get a bachelor's degree from taking a truckload of CLEP tests.

CLEP (and other forms of credit by exam) is an awesome way to save time and money on earning a degree. I wouldn't encourage anyone in her target age range (12-22) to get all of their credit by exam, though. You can certainly learn the fundamentals of most fields through diligent self-study, but a big part of the value of higher education comes from things other than lectures, textbooks, quizzes, and tests - career development opportunities, community service projects, student clubs and organizations, athletics, fine arts, and connecting with other bright, ambitious students and professors. You'll miss out on many of these things if you never set foot in a classroom. This is especially true for younger people who aren't already established in their careers.

I could say more, but this is probably an unpopular opinion already, and I'll leave it at that.