Credit By Exam | Distance Learning Systems (DLSI)

CLEP Exams and Veterans

Whether you are still in uniform or have already left the service, you may be looking for a way to generate higher education credit that will have little impact on your hectic schedule. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to learn about a topic on your own time without having to be present at classes and generate higher education credit by simply passing an exam at the end? Thanks to CLEP exams, that possibility has been a reality for many years and you too can take advantage of it. The College-Level Examination Program has been popular with service members and veterans since it was first presented, for valid reason. CLEP exams are just what the name implies: an opportunity to generate credit by exam. You choose a topic to study, set a date to take the evaluation and if you pass, you will earn higher education credit. Thirty-three CLEP exams are currently available in subjects which range from computer and computer programs to English Literature, with the value of an individual exam which range from three to 12 credits. Examining happens year-round.

Here are some more reasons to take CLEP exams:

It’s affordable. In fact, CLEP examinations are 100% free for active-duty members who take a test through DANTES, the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support. (However, this will apply only to your first attempt at a particular CLEP exam; if you fail a test, you must wait six months before you can take it again and then you would have to pay the standard test fee of $80.)
You can study at your own time and speed until you feel ready to take the evaluation.
CLEP exams fit well with varying plans and short-notice deployments, since you don’t have to be present at a regular class over a period of several weeks, saving you lots of your time.
Active-duty CLEP evaluation takers may be able to obtain 100 % free study materials. Check with your installation education center; DANTES offers 100% free, reproducible duplicates of individual exam guides.

The Secret to College: Credit By Exam

For most scholars, the path to earning credit typically involves several weeks of paying attention to lessons, writing down notes, finishing projects and passing a mid-term and final examination. But if you could generate that credit in less time and at a portion of the cost of getting an official course, would you be interested? There would be no projects to finish and no lessons or classes to attend, just an examination to pass. Students looking for a more efficient model to generate a degree should consider credit by exam programs, which have become well-known among those who want to speed up their pace and save money.

“Credit-by-exam programs have been used for years and keep growing today because they offer real value to students and allow them to finish degree requirements more efficiently than getting traditional programs,” mentioned Marc Singer, vice provost of the Center for the Assessment of Learning at Thomas Edison State College, which recently arranged several of its credit by exam programs with open programs to create new routes for students to generate credit. Nearly 3,000 universities in the U.S. accept credit by exam as transfer credit. The programs allow students to get credit by passing a single examination and tend to be an excellent fit for independent students, students who possess college-level knowledge and students who are excellent test takers.

Credit by exam programs is not for everyone, especially students who choose an organized environment and getting a lecturer and other students. Deciding to get college credit by preparing for an examination that covers a semester’s worth of content means you have to be self-motivated and regimented. This approach attracts many busy adult students who have competitive demands on their time and who want to work individually. Two of the most well-known credit-by-exam programs in the U.S. are the College Level Examination Program (CLEP exams) and DSST examinations. “Students considering credit-by-exam programs should talk with their academic consultant to make sure credits from the examination they are planning to take can be passed to satisfy a requirement in their degree program,” said Singer.

College Level Examination Program and Home Schooling

Google “home schooling” and you’re rewarded with 4,130,000 results in less than one second. While home schooling is a colossal subject both on-line and off, the discussion has a tendency to wind down a bit as youngsters get more established and secondary school approaches not too far off. Maybe it’s because of the expanding intricacy of the topic, or maybe assets or eagerness reduce. Be that as it may, for a developing number of families, home schooling throughout the secondary school years is a suitable and sought after elective to customary schooling. One verifiable profit of a home schooling is that it might be totally redone to fit your kid’s identity, calendar, accessibility and hobbies. Offering people a differing extent of training alternatives is a grand objective regardless of how kids are instructed and with home schooling specifically, folks can work together with their adolescents to make the best experience possible.

Each one state has distinctive laws in regards to home instruction. A few states are truly remiss on their home schooling prerequisites, while others have exceptionally particular enrollment alternatives and may even oblige you to show confirmation of your advancement, educational module and testing all around the year. It’s dependent upon you to do your homework and determine your state’s prerequisites. Even while your home schooler is finishing secondary school courses, he or she could be planning for college. On the off chance that your student is looking to get ahead of the game, sway them to “test out” of courses in which they can demonstrate mastery. The cost savings will be huge!

A CLEP exam tests mastery of school level material gained in a mixed bag of ways, through general academic instructions, critical free study or extracurricular work. Self-taught learners are perfect competitors for a college level examination program exam, as are grown-ups coming back to school and military staff entering school after serving their nation, among others. College level examination program is the most broadly acknowledged credit-by-examination program, accessible at more than 2,900 universities and colleges and regulated at in excess of 1,800 test centers. For a small amount of the expense of a school course, an individual can take a CLEP exam and get school credit before they ever enter the holy corridors of higher learning!

Credit by Examination and CLEP

According to the Department of Education, only 40% of learners graduate in 4 years, with the average closer to 6 years. This can mean a large number of extra dollars of additional college tuition, room and board, and even lost pay. Here is some smart ways to generate college credits, guaranteeing you graduate on time and within your college budget.

AP/IB Programs in High School: Take AP (Advanced Placement) or IB (International Baccalaureate) courses while in High School. These double credit ranking courses can mean that you actually start college with credits already gained. Be sure to check which is approved by your colleges of choice and know that you must successfully pass the final examination with a passing grade to get the credit. Please note that for IB courses, many universities and colleges only give credit for exams at the HL (Higher Level) courses and examinations.

Earn College Credits over the Summer: Spend summer season before you begin college or between semesters by making credits. Whether you are studying to take a test for credit (like a CLEP or DSST test), or making some General Education credits at your local college, a large number of universities agree to a passing test or course score for credits.

Test for Credit: Speaking of credit by examination, did you know that there are over 50 college courses that provide you with credit if you successfully pass a test? Called CLEP (College Level Examination Prep) or DSST (originally created for the military), these courses can reduce your path to a degree and are approved by over 3,000 universities in the United States. Here are some pretty great reasons to consider testing for credit:

Test for credit saved an average of over 6 months toward their degrees.
91% of CLEP test-takers said CLEP made a distinction in helping them finish their degrees.
70% of CLEP test-takers said their CLEP credits made a distinction in their ability to finance college tuition and other costs.
CLEP learners have considerably greater collective GPA than non-CLEP learners when controlling for demographics and prior accomplishment.
Students who receive credit by examination through CLEP for an introductory course are much more likely to get an A or B in succeeding courses than learners who finish the introductory course.

Credit by Exam and DSST Exam

As college tuition prices continue to increase at universities across the country, some learners are looking for more cost-saving, non-traditional routes to college. One way that you can preserve countless numbers (or even thousands) of dollars on expenses is by getting an examination to generate college credit in place of a conventional three-credit course. Many American universities, colleges and schools will actually allow you to test out of certain programs with a DSST examination, allowing you the opportunity to take more classes that can get you ready for your future profession. In fact, here are some reasons why you should consider credit by exam:

Save Time: DSST examinations can help decrease the number of hours and classes you may need for a degree program. You have the versatility to schedule the credit by exam on your own time and to create a study plan that continues as long as you need it to.
Save Money: A DSST exam costs only $80! On average, one college credit is worth $250, add up 3 credits and that is $750! DSST examinations are also financed for active duty military members (and their spouses).
Credit = Credit: Over 1,900 organizations allow credits for DSST examinations. Whether you are seated through a class of 400 learners taking notices or passing a DSST examination, the credits are worth the same!
Wide Range of Educational Experience: DSST provides a wide list of 38 examinations (and growing!). In comparison, CLEP provides only 33 examinations. There is no limit when it comes to DSST. Choose examinations that fit your system needs and wishes.
Plenty of Resources: With the help of DSST online exercise examinations, the DSST Official Test Preparation Guides and several third-party sources, you can make sure that you will be advised on your direction to success.

Credit by Examination and RN Transition

As a certified health professional, you must be absolutely aware of the predicted growth in the nursing industry. The industry is predicted to make thousands of jobs over the next few years and guarantees significant pay offers. This is the perfect time to jump in to the bandwagon and complete the awaiting Registered Nurse (RN) course. Luckily, now you do not have to search for schools to finish your Registered Nurse bridge course, as you can do it on the internet and even be present at virtual classes online.

Perhaps the biggest inertia while applying for an RN course is the strict conditions of a contract. You are compelled to continue with a course even if it is not what you prefer. However, there are a few online websites which do not require a full-time contract obligation from you. You are free simply to walk away from the course if it does not fulfill your objectives, but with a fantastic passing rate of 93%, you should not be worried!

The websites allow you to generate higher education credits for a course you clear. It is like attending the higher education itself without the effort of changing your way of life. Most websites have a specific assessment process which prepares you for the examinations. You can be present at the classes at the schools or even opt for exclusive sessions. You have full independence to personalize your classes as per your comfort. Credit by examination on the internet will make your conversion to RN very sleek. Think of credit by examination as a shortcut to get ready for a great career in nursing. So, get ready to enhance your earnings!

DSST Credit by Exam

While the DSST program offers a total of 37 examinations in unique subject matter, the 10 examination titles releasing with new material are: Substance Abuse, Introduction to Computing, Ethics in America, Criminal Justice, Personal Finance, Management Information Systems, Here’s to Your Health, Fundamentals of College Algebra, Principles of Statistics and Introduction to World Religions. A rejuvenated practice examination is also available for each title.

Regular material up-dates keep the DSST examinations certified with the extensive requirements of the American Council on Education (ACE), which suggests the examinations for credit, as well as appropriate to applicants and arranged university classes. It also increases the security and reliability of the examinations through protection of item overexposure.

“The universities that agree to DSST credits do so based on the capability of the examinations to coordinate up with certain course specifications, and this positioning is crucial to the success of the DSST program,” said Jean Steinke, DSST Senior Product Planner at Prometric. “College directors, giving programs and learners should be confident that the topic and material of all DSST examinations are indicative of course material and representative of a progressed level of information in any of the topic.”

Almost any adult who has gone back to school is familiar with credit by exam programs that allow them to earn college credit for life experience. The DSST program is Prometric’s exclusive program of 37 examinations while attending college subject matter such as Social Sciences, Math, Applied Technology, Business, Physical Sciences and Humanities. Learners who take and pass a DSST examination are given college credit applied toward their degree. DSST examinations are applied by more than 1,200 universities, colleges and military facilities globally and are recommended for school credit by the American Council on Education (ACE). Close to 2000 universities offer course credit for a passing grade on the DSSTs. Providing a simple and fast way for current or future students of any age to “short cut” their degree program by saving them the time of having to sit in a class and the money of having to pay for it by taking the credit by exam route.

Passing the College Level Examination Program

For those of you who have ever reported, “I already know this information, this class is a waste of my time,” prepare yourself for the biggest thing you have heard all year. Kept invisible from learners for some unidentified reason (money), I present the soon-to-be infamous CLEP test. It stands for “College Level Examination Program,” this test allows learners, if ready with the appropriate information, to take a test on a course they are already well-versed in and get full credit. To all the senior students living off campus, the CLEP is not news. But for some reason, nearly every person has little to no idea about it. Do not worry, there are indeed a few select people who actually care about your time and effort and do not just want as much cash they can get.

This test, appropriate to nearly every student, gives learners a chance to spend a week passing a class instead of 20. This way you can make good of the little time you have on campus; not strolling through the steps of rounding numbers. This being said, the test is not going to be a simple task. The test is basically a final examination and since you have never actually taken the class, it’s bound to be complicated. There are, however, several sources on campus with the only objective of assisting you to successfully pass the College Level Examination Program.

Speak with your guidance counselor. It would be annoying spending for the test, taking time out of your week and in the end finding out that the exam you took is not applicable to your university.
Register for the exam date/time/location. Since there are certain times and places for the test, you will need to resume a spot at a convenient time and place for you.
Study! The exam is basically a final examination for a class you have not taken, so you have to be pretty ready. In the written text, there are study guides in the library particular for these assessments.
Pass the test. Now with the appropriate planning and signing up, you are hopefully ready to take an entire class in a matter of two hours.

The Focus on Credit by Examination

Too many students are targeted on the classes they need to take. English, Psychology, Chemistry, Accounting etc. It’s simple to see why. Choose a college course book and you will see that degree programs are set out as series of classes to take. Successfully pass them all and you graduate with the degree you desired. Yet, this is actually a superficial way to look at higher education. As it turns out, credits are the real foundations of degrees, not classes.

Take a closer look at your college’s course book. What you will see is that you actually need a certain variety of credits to graduate, usually 60 for an associate degree and 120 for a bachelor’s. This is a key understanding, because once you move your focus from classes to credit, you can begin researching methods to buy them for less. The costly classes your university provides are just one way of getting those credits, even though most learners thoughtlessly believe it’s the only way.

In reality, there are three methods to generate higher education credit:

Classes at four year public colleges/private universities
Classes at community colleges
Credit by examination

Most students are acquainted with the first two choices. But hardly anyone knows about credit by examination and even less understand its full potential. Credit by examination represents college-level subject assessments like CLEP and DSST. With this strategy, you take a large test covering an entire subject (say, English) rather than a semester-long course. Successfully pass the examination and you get credit just as if you had taken the class. What this implies is that you can possibly cut lots of money off the price of graduating by replacing as many of these examinations for classes as your college will allow. Unfortunately, many colleges and universities have tight “residency requirements” restricting how many attributes you can get this way.

Credit by Examination Need to Knows

A college is commonly viewed as a financial commitment into your future. Invest your cash into college, and your return is a degree and hopefully a well-paying job. Testing out, or credit by examination, gets you the same return for a smaller financial commitment of both cash and time. Simply put, it’s a faster, more affordable way to generate college credit by passing one standardized evaluation per course. So, here are some things you need to know about credit by examination.

You can get college credit on your schedule without sitting in a classroom – Credit by examination, or testing out of college programs, is a method that focuses on the elements of college that are valued most, gaining the college credits you need while saving cash. Separate studying and testing out of a course allow you to structure the studying process into your current life schedule, no matter what your life routine may be.

Passing one standardized evaluation can give you up to 12 college credits – A passing score on a standardized evaluation indicates that you have the same level of information as someone who took the same topic in a traditional class room. Think of it as skipping right to the final exam in an excellent course and having your entire grade based on that test. The number of credits earned depends on the evaluation topic and the university or college you plan to transfer it into.

Testing out can save you money – By using your knowledge, you can reduce costs on tuition, transportation costs and child care and save lots of money along the way.

Testing out is not just for the army anymore – For many years, the army has used independent studying to allow army personnel the flexibility to independently learn and then test out of college programs, as well as army specific programs. Today, there are many people, army and non-military alike, who get a four-year degree using nothing but independent studying to aid in testing out of programs. Their passing grades are transferred to a school of their choice that accepts the passing standardized evaluation scores and the college issues them credit toward a degree.