TESTING OUT:
COLLEGE CREDIT WITHOUT THE CLASSROOM

These are detailed below:

• CORE credit -- for the standard "core" courses that ALL students must take, regardless of major. About a third of your credits for a 4-year Bachelor's degree will be in core courses. Typically this involves such required courses as: English I and II, Speech, College Algebra I, a lab science of your choosing, and possibly a social studies course and/or a foreign language -- or multiples of these. You'll likely also be required to pick some related "electives" (courses you pick at your discretion from a wide range, such as Art Appreciation, Music Performance, Physical Education, Debate, etc.)
  Most students are well-advised to get these basic "core" courses done before commiting to a specific "major" course of study (e.g.: Business Administration, Electrical Engineering, Physical Therapy, Political Science, etc.).
      In the process of taking the required core courses (that you have to take sooner or later, anyway) you'll learn a surprising amount about what types of college courses, and majors, you will (or will not) be truly capable of, and comfortable with. (The average college student changes majors about three times; few students complete a degree with the major they started with.)

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• MAJOR credit -- the specialized courses for your specific major. For instance, if your major is "Business Administration," expect to be required to take Economics (I & II), Finance, Accounting (I & II), Business Law, Marketing, etc.

At Wichita State University, for instance, courses whose number ends with a "Q" can be used to fullfill requirements for either the core, or for certain majors. ; for instance, Entreprenuership 160Q is a required course for a degree majoring in "Entreprenurship"; but it can also be used as simply a major elective for a degree in "Business Administration," and can even be counted as a core elective for any other major -- at WSU. (Every college has its own policies).

COLLEGE CREDIT -- HOW IT'S FIGURED:

A college credit is usually measured in "credit hours" (or "semester hours"). Most college courses are good for three "credit hours" (or "semester hours") each -- you attend the course three hours a week for a whole semester (typically about 5 months). At the end, if you pass, you get three "credits," (or "credit-hours," or "semester-hours,") of college credit towards your degree.

A typical 2-year "Associates degree" requires about 62 credit-hours.

A typical 4-year "Bachelor's degree" requires a total of about 124 credit-hours.*

*(Some colleges will accept certain Associate's Degrees as covering the first half of the credits required for certain Bachelor's degrees).

A typical "Master's degree" adds another 62 credit-hours to the total for a Bachelor's degree -- plus you usually must write a very large research paper called a "thesis."

A typical "Doctoral degree" (e.g.: M.D., Ph.D., J.D., Ed.D., etc.) adds another 62 credit-hours to the total for a Master's degree -- plus you usually must write a massive research paper called a "dissertation," which you must "defend" before a panel of professors who challenge its assertions.

CREDIT REALITY:

Most students, for various reasons, have to complete noticeably more hours than that for a degree, because -- intentionally or accidentally -- they usually wind up taking some classes that do not fit the requirements for their specific degree (especially if they change majors), or because they've flunked some courses, or simply not gotten the required grade for the degree.

(In my own college years, a personal crisis, which hit me late in the semester, kept me from attending my classes and finishing the courses; it was too late to officially withdraw, so I accumulated several credit-hours of "F" which did me no good. I had to re-take the courses.

And I passed one course with a miserable "D" -- but the college required that I pass it with a "C" for my particular degree -- so I had to retake that course, as well.

Multiple changes of major -- and a few extraneous classes I took for curiosity's sake -- also ballooned the credits I accumulated, beyond those needed for the degree that I ultimately earned).

There are various ways of "testing out," but the main ways are two:

One option is to take a test that was created at the local college by professors teaching that subject.

If you pass the test (and different schools have different "passing" scores for different subject exams, and some are just pass/fail, others give grades), then you are "eligible" for credit for that specific course (for instance: English Composition 101, or Trigonometry, or Spanish Level III), at that specific college.

"Eligible" doesn't get you college credit, though; you must first be "registered" as a student at the college (usually BEFORE taking the test), and pay the required fee for the test (typically $50-$100) -- and then (if you pass the test) possibly even pay full or partial tuition for the credit (typically $100-$200 or more for each "semester hour" of credit, with most tests covering a three-semester-hour course).

Why bother, if you may have to pay as much (or even more) for "testing out" as for taking the class? Because TIME=MONEY.

Testing out is a quicker way of getting on with the rest of your life. Time spent taking classes, on subjects that you already know well, is time that could be spent on OTHER subjects you DON'T yet know, getting you through college -- and on to making real money with your degree -- sooner.

College delay is extremely costly, and speeding it up will make you a lot more money than if you focus on saving it while in college. College is an expense that pays for itself quickly -- if you choose the right college, the right major, and the right career, and pursue them all diligently.

All that said, many colleges do not charge you full tuition for credit earned by testing out, so it MAY be a much cheaper way of earning college credits.

Another option is to take a nationally standardized test, created by a recognized national testing organization (usually the Educational Testing Service or the College Board). The national tests that can give you credit are chiefly:

1.) The A.C.T.
  ("American College Test")
  college entrance exams.

Official Website: https://www.act.org/

Many colleges and universities require you to take the ACT test (prounounced "A-C-T") as an "entrance" exam, before they'll approve your application for registration, or before you can enroll in classes. The ACT is usually taken by prospective college students, at their local high school, while they're still high school juniors or seniors.

Ask your high school counselor for details -- or contact the admissions (or testing) office at your local college. Note that only about half of colleges use the ACT test (the others use only the SAT entrance exams, which do not generally allow you credit).

The ACT test is mainly used by colleges to determine whether you are educated enough to attend college, or to help determine if you have educational deficiencies that need remediation in your first year, to bring you up to college level in your knowledge.

But, if your ACT scores are high enough, some colleges offer you "advanced placement" -- or even free credits in specific subject areas -- if you ask for it BEFORE enrolling in any classes (a few really decent schools may even let you claim ACT credit later).

FREE CREDIT is GREAT -- TAKE IT!!!

For more, see the official ACT website:
https://www.act.org/

2.) The CLEP tests:
  the College Level Examination Program

Official Website: https://clep.collegeboard.org/exam

Sponsored by the College Board, a national consortium of about a hundred colleges and universities (including many of the "big names"). Has two types of tests:

• CLEP GENERAL Exams
  (five tests, each over a wide range of topics and subjects in a broad general area of study, such as Science or History); and

• CLEP SUBJECT Exams
  (several dozen exams, each of which roughly matches the requirements for a single common specific college course, such as English Composition 2, or Chemistry, or Introduction to Psychology).

•   Some do not allow CLEP credit (though if you are persistent in your research, you may find that some universities DO have a policy that allows CLEP credit, unknown to many of their staff);

•   Some allow credit only for CLEP General Exams;

•   Some allow credit only for CLEP Subject Exams;

•   Some allow credit for BOTH types of CLEP exams;

  Many schools (probably most) require that you take your CLEP test (if desired) BEFORE taking any class that it could substitute for. If, for instance, you want to try testing out of College Algebra II, you cannot have taken that class yet (whether you passed it or not).

The reason is simple: The college doesn't want to admit you deserve credit for something they failed to teach you, or failed to give you a fair grade for. The results of CLEP tests would frequently contradict the college's grading system -- and colleges (and their professors) will not tolerate such embarrassment, so they won't allow you to "CLEP test" after failing (or taking) a class in that area.

CAUTION: Some unethical or sloppy college testing offices will allow you to take the test -- and spend the money for it -- without bothering to tell you that the relevant college department (such as the Math Dept. or English Dept.) won't allow you credit for the test. Check FIRST, with both your admissions counselor and the department chairman of the college department responsible for approving credit for that subject. If at all possible, get their statement of approval in writing (or, better yet, in an e-mail or text message) that you can hang on to for proof, later -- stating precisely:

There are, sadly, several ways unethical schools will mess with you on national test credit:

For instance, even if you get a top CLEP score on the CLEP subject exam for College Algebra I, some wretchedly cold-hearted colleges may credit you for only a course in pre-Algebra

Still others may only give you pass/fail credit for a CLEP test, while the university requires that you get at least a "C" letter grade in that subject to complete your degree requirements.

It is unfortunate that such unethical behavior is commonplace in American colleges, but it is. To be sure, many collegse are ethical about testing for credit, but many are NOT -- including some of the biggest universities in the nation.

But if you check with all the right people -- and know your situation in advance -- you could find this a very effective way to accelerate your path to success.

GETTING READY to CLEP:

A person unable to attend college, but with plenty of free time on their hands, can often develop their own personal program of college-level study -- using books, magazines, educational videos and the internet -- to get ready for a CLEP exam.

And you can even take the test to see if you'll pass. Though expensive, CLEP tests CAN be re-taken (under most college policies), so if you don't get a good score the first time, it's not yet over. But you can save a lot of money by studying really hard, first.

Get a peek at the tests by buying a CLEP test guide from a bookstore (most major bookstores, and even some used-book stores, stock a wide selection of college-exam prep books -- typically about $10-$25 each -- which contain excellent examples of the real tests.)

Details on CLEP General Exams & CLEP Subject Exams follow:

Five CLEP "General" exams are offered, one in each of the five basic, broad fields of traditional college study:

• English
• Math
• Science
• History
• Humanities (art/music/literature/culture)

Different colleges have different rules about how CLEP general exam credit is applied. Each college has its own "passing" score that it will accept for credit, and each college has its own policy for how many credits it will grant for passing a CLEP General Exam.

(Butler Community College grants 6; Wichita State Univ. only grants 3 hours credit)

WARNING: Colleges will generally only let you get credit for a CLEP General Exam if you have NEVER taken any college course (anywhere) in any subject within that subject area.

For instance: if you take a college course in Early U.S. History, you are not eligible for ANY credit under the CLEP General Exam in "History", even though that category also includes Modern U.S. History, Early World History and Modern World History.

Ditto for the CLEP General Exam in "Math", which covers such subjects as College Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Statistics and Calculus; take just ONE of these courses in college, and you're not eligible for ANY credit under the CLEP General Exam in "Math."

SO... Try to take the CLEP General Exams as early as possible -- ideally before ever enrolling in any college course.

CLEP offers individual "Subject" exams in 33 specific, common college subjects -- including such basics as English Composition (1 and 2), College Algebra, Trigonomentry, Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, U.S. History (early and modern), World History (early and modern), Spanish/French/German (levels I, II, and III), Introduction to Psychology, Introduction to Sociology, American Government, Financial Accounting, etc.

Many well-prepared college students enter college with one or more of these subjects already learned -- either from high school, or self-study and experience. So these "Subject Exams" allow students to get credit targeted to specific college courses -- allowing them to possibly skip over multiple basic "core" courses, particularly "first-year" / "freshman" courses, and even introductory or basic courses in several popular majors.

For more, see the official CLEP website: https://clep.collegeboard.org/exam

Testing-out is seldom cheap or simple, but MAY be simpler and cheaper compared to spending months in a class you aren't learning anything new from -- and it can make graduation day closer, allowing to you get your degree, and start making real money, sooner.

One caution: You may have been sharp on a subject months or years ago (even "aced" it in high school), but that doesn't mean you're that sharp on it TODAY. Many people try "testing out" without carefully preparing for the test, over-confident with disappointing results. Others are under-confident and prepare like crazy. They often have surprisingly good results.

Another caution: If the subject is key to something you're going to be studying a lot, you might consider skipping the test-out option, and take the actual classroom course anyway, to build proficiency in a subject you already know. This is especially true for math and some science subjects, and almost anything number-intensive (such as Financial Accounting). Testing out might keep you from developing the refined proficiency that will decide your success or failure in more advanced classes, especially in such technically demanding fields as business, engineering, science, or healthcare.

~ RH, former college instructor