Credit by Examination | Distance Learning Systems (DLSI)

Graduating Faster

Too many learners are focused on the classes they need to take. English, Psychology, Chemistry, Accounting are just some of the common subjects. It’s simple to see why. Pick up a college course book and you will see that degree programs are set out as series of classes to take. Complete them all and you graduate with the degree you desired. Yet this is actually a superficial way to look at college. As it turns out, classes are not the real foundations of degree, credits are. Take a closer look at your college’s course book. What you will see is that you actually need a certain number of credits to graduate, usually 60 for an associate degree and 120 for a bachelor degree. This is a key understanding, because once you move your focus from classes to credit, you can begin analyzing 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. Actually, there are three methods to generate college credit: classes at four year community colleges/private universities, classes at local colleges and credit by exam. Most learners are acquainted with the first two choices. But hardly anyone knows about credit by exam and even less understand its complete potential.

Credit by exam represents college-level topic assessments like CLEP and DSST. With this strategy, you take a large test covering a whole topic (say, English) rather than a semester-long course. Complete the examination, and you get credit just as if you had taken the class. What this means is that you can possibly cut lots of money off the cost of graduating by replacing as many of these examinations for classes as your college will allow. Unfortunately, many institutions have tight “residency requirements” restricting how many credit score you can get this way. Yet, I’ve found a few institutions that have no residence specifications.

Credit by Examination in College

I just cannot explain how thrilled I am about credit by examination. These applications are the only reason that I and many others are college graduates. Do not think for a moment that you will not learn something in the process of getting these examinations. And especially, do not be amazed at how much you already know as you study for them. The key to remember when planning for an examination is that the common system of 70% = pass is no longer is applicable. These assessments are designed to evaluate your knowledge of a topic as opposed to normal college student taking the class. Well, guess what? Average is a big range. Most of these examinations only require you to get about half the solutions right to earn credit. That is why I and so many other applicants find we did much better than we thought after getting our score.

Most schools take credit by examination. Some schools design their own examining programs, but the majority gives credit based on the American Council on Education (ACE) credit recommendation. Each evaluation is given a suggested amount of credit by ACE. Most schools will prize the suggested credit, however they are not required to. So, please check with the college of your choice to validate their credit by examination policy, such as the most of credit they will take by testing.

Each evaluation suppliers have their own style and framework. It is important to understand each company’s guidelines and specifications. Most of the examinations are not that challenging. I never studied for more than three times for a three credit by examination and not more than seven times for a six credit by examination. You will need to take a number of each to get your speed, but once the momentum is going, do not quit. The best measure that I used was to take as many practice assessments that I might find on the topic. Once I reached the 80-90% level, I was prepared. Once you get going, you find it simple to take two or more examinations in one day.

Exploring Credit By Exam

Enrolling in college is now a standard. In the past, you were blessed to be present in a university. Today, however, most kids are required to at least study at community college. Even adults are feeling the stress to get a college degree. Unfortunately, conventional college is not an option for everyone. High college tuition, work plans, and family lifestyle often make it hard to begin or continue college. Fortunately, there are alternatives! Credit by exam is one alternative that many teenagers and adults are starting to take seriously. Credit by exam means that you can get credit for some of the things you already know. Adult scholars, especially, have obtained knowledge outside of the educational setting from the office and life experience. For example, if you demonstrate that you already understand college mathematics, you can test out of that class and get three credits.

This method of making college credit has been around for the last three decades and is becoming more extensive. Although credit by exam assessments like College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and DANTES Subject Standardized Tests were initially designed toward army employees, both are now open to citizens. Nearly 3,000 schools take credit gained from the assessments, but not all schools do. To be prepared, check your college’s policy to make sure credit will be accepted.

Not putting things off is perhaps the biggest benefit of credit by exam. Instead of going through a term on US History, you can avoid taking the class completely by taking the CLEP test on US History. With enough time you preserve, you can spend it attending the innovative programs that you are really after. If you make use of the examinations, you can save months, if not years of educational costs and time. While all of your colleagues are still in college spending cash for an expensive conventional knowledge, you will have a degree and be out in the labor force generating revenue.

How to Take the Dante’s Exam?

Dante’s, CLEP and Excelsior examinations or Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) Financed for active responsibility, National Guard members, and Reserves, which means they are basically free. The DANTES exam is a nationally-recognized credit-by-examination program that most institutions accept for credit towards a degree plan. One enormous benefit is to military personnel who may be separated from army bases such as recruiters who can still take these examinations for no cost at private test centers. Any army student with an accepted degree strategy should be able to use these examinations towards their degree strategy, supposing the subject fits into their accepted degree strategy. There are 38 Dante’s exams and these can be taken at an education center or at an approved off platform computer test center.

There are five actions to getting and passing a Dante’s Exam:

Phase 1. Find and Schedule – To choose a Dante’s exam center, go to the web link below and type in your city and the closest testing place will be displayed: http://dantestclookup.prometric.com/DEMISPublic/TestCenterSearch/OnBaseTestCenterSearchOption.aspx

Phase 2. Obtain a Factsheet – There a few strategies to complete a Dante’s that implement the actual test development to ensure a passing ranking.

Phase 3. Get Books – The next step is to study the section known as Sources for study Material because this is where the guides used to design the exam questions are designed from.

Phase 4. Create Flashcards – Purchase a set of flashcards. Using the Fact Sheet, each phrase detailed on the fact sheet summary should be put on a flashcard. Using the examination Principles of Counseling as an example, this would cause to at least 34 flashcards.

Phase 5. Use Your Resources – Some examinations are normally simpler than others because learners have current details of the exam topic details. A good example would be the Army MOS 31B or military police.

Dante’s exam is a great method for quickly accomplishing higher education degree credit toward an accepted degree plan. The credit can be gained faster than an excellent course and if the examination is unsuccessful, then there is no college tuition assistance that will come out of your income.

Guides for CLEP Exams

In the more advanced world, Education and learning is a primary need for all human beings. Most people cannot continue their study due to some reason. Military personnel whose time is mostly spent in missions are not able to continue their education such as 4 year college degree. CLEP and DSST are examinations that give them opportunity to get college credit for learning obtained outside the conventional educational setting. This is a very useful system.

There are many companies that run programs for planning of CLEP and DSST examinations. The College-Level Evaluation Program (CLEP) is the most commonly approved credit-by-examination system, was developed by the College Board. It is available at more than 2,900 schools. There is need to complete any of the 34 CLEP examinations and after passing it, you can accomplish your college and profession objectives. The course is designed in as short as 4 days, so you are able to take CLEP test on the 5th day and earn credit from the course. It is helpful to get college credit for what you already know, for a little sum of cash.

There are many companies that offer a very beneficial on the internet CLEP study guides that gives you the material to prepare for the CLEP exams. The content of these guides is so simple that learners can easily prepare for the examinations. The College Board also post study information containing sample assessments for all examinations. There are unique tips for exam takes to make the exam easier. In the CLEP review, you do not have to pay for every detail. There are services that offer many study guides. Some of them are easily available to prepare you for your topic and others have a set price range.

Dantes Exam

Earning a degree while finishing army service can be extremely challenging. Military responsibilities can make it increasingly difficult to study regularly and experts can also struggle to finish their undergrad degrees while attempting to handle work, family and educational responsibilities simultaneously. Fortunately, there is a widely used option that allows learners to finish their degree in a timelier manner. DANTES exams grant credit-by-examination, allowing learners to earn transferable credit by passing an examination in topics that they’ve already perfected, rather than having to join long, time intensive and repetitive courses. DANTES exams (now known as DSST exams), and the colleges that support them, can save army personnel a lot of money.

The DANTES evaluation was the unique name of a type of credit-by-examination that permitted learners to generate credit for subjects they could confirm they already completed via qualified testing. DANTES examinations are now known as DSST examinations and are just like AP examinations taken in secondary school. Moving a DSST / DANTE evaluation allows the student to generate higher education credit without having to take an excellent course in the same subject. Earning attributes via DANTES or DSST examining can cut out the time required to complete a degree, enabling learners to graduate a term or in some cases even years earlier than expected, saving lots of money in educational costs.

There are also two other, quite identical types of credit-by-examination frequently used by Active Duty army members and experts called CLEP and ECE.

Credit by Exam in Military College

One technique of higher education credit that is used and not known by many service members is credit by exam. Credit by exam is very easy, you organize to take a test, and then depending on the pass/fail of test, you will either have credit granted to you or not. The best part is that any expenses that are normally billed for credit by exam programs are often handled by the army. So you are able to take examinations, have the army pay for the exam charges, and then any examinations that you generate a passing grade will provide you higher education credit toward your academic objectives. Taking CLEP examinations are easy. You simply organize with your control or platform knowledge workplace for the time frame and date of the examination. On the day of the exam, you have to carry with you a main image ID (your Military ID card or state released license) and a secondary ID with you to the examination grounds or test area. Many people have the training and learning or experience to be able to complete some of the examinations that are available, but because it is not a well-known program or they are uninformed that such applications are available, then, they do not take benefits of credit by exam possibilities.

The exams are often administered by DANTES, or the Defense Activity for Non Traditional Education team. They assist and are one of the major sponsors for the exams, and help organize a time and place for army service members to take them. College evaluation applications, or CLEP examining, are exams that are available for any employees in the army who desire to take them. It is an excellent way to monetize upon your experience and data, and to obtain and generate college credit by successfully passing the test.

DANTES Credit By Exam

The Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Educational Support or DANTES has credit by exam tests known as DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST). They were initially produced to ensure that the U.S. Military’s enlisted soldiers, mariners, airmen and Marine Corps could earn college credit while serving on active duty in locations with no traditional schools. Prior to the internet, service people needed to depend on limited on-base educational possibilities. Frequent alterations in duty stations managed to be tricky to establish residency. The DSSTs assisted to fix this issue by enabling military students to accelerate their degree programs by generating college credit by showing their understanding via testing.

After DANTES sub-contracted the DSST program to Prometric, the DSST grew to become open to non-military personnel. These exams are pretty similar to the College Level Examination Program or CLEP and they’re recognized by many schools for credit provided the minimum cutoff score is accomplished. Like the CLEP program, the majority of the exams cover courses normally trained in the newcomer and sophomore level. This allows students to try out of huge sections of their first couple of years of college.

Students desiring to make use of the DSST program should consult the Prometric web site to find the position of the nearest testing site. The price for every DSST is $80.00. However, many schools and native testing sites frequently charge a nearby fee of $15 to $25. Each examination provides the examinee the chance to earn three credit hours at traditional schools and colleges provided the examinee has accomplished an appropriate score. Each test includes a score, established with a formal validating procedure that fits to some passing grade. One part of the DSST that’s not the same as the CLEP examination is the fact that DSST scores happen to be scaled. Scores over the passing score are qualified for letter grades of B along with A when the college or university takes part for that manner. One prominent distance education college, Excelsior College, does participate and enables students to build up a GPA through testing.

Ways to Save Time and Tuition Fees

You will find several kinds of Credit by Exam options. Listed here are five of the very popular:

College Level Examination Program (CLEP). CLEP is easily the most popular option and it has exams in liberal arts, languages, business, science and math. The completed exams are transferable to just about all colleges for either 3 or 6 units. The CLEP website offers practice tests, study guides and locations of test centers. Costs for CLEP and all sorts of other Credit by Exam choices are usually under $100/test.
DSST Exams. DSST Exams formerly were known as DANTES Exams and were just for military personnel. Today, DSST Exams in liberal arts, business, education and criminal justice can be found to the student, traditional or adult student. Test prep and test locations are online.
Excelsior College Exams or UExcel Exams have numerous tests in areas not included in CLEP or DSST, including Nursing and upper division (junior and senior year) business exams.
Thomas Edison College Examination Program (TECEP) is another method to earn credit for formerly learned understanding. You will find Upper Division exams in Network Technology and business, in addition to exams in PR (public relations), Nutrition and Technical Writing.
Challenge exams originate from the local college or university. If you’re already enrolled in a college and wish to “test out”, your college may offer this other option. Often, a student will go ahead and take the challenge exam, get a listing of study materials and go ahead and take the final exam. The minimum score for that challenge exam is generally 75% or 80% to become counted as credit.

Credit by Exam – Explained

Credit by Exam give learners credits that go toward earning an associate’s level, bachelor’s level or higher education and trade or vocational certification. Students take the examinations needed in their chosen field of study, which evaluates their knowledge in the subject. Testing sites throughout the US bring in The College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and Advanced Placement (AP) examinations at various times during the year. Most institutions consider the credits gained by the Credit by Exam program as transfer credits, so the school policies determine the gained credits for the degree. ACE or the American Council on Education grants other examinations acknowledged for higher education credit, such as the Excelsior College Exams and Dante’s Subject Standardized assessments, among others.

Most mature learners have experience in the labor force that can go for a degree program, saving them the time it takes to receive a four-year degree. Many mature learners generate up to 40 credits toward a degree program through testing. Another advantage of the Credit by Exam system is the money stored on expenses. Older students have families to provide for and spending under 100 dollars for an exam, help them to save thousands for higher education courses. These exams also help older learners who have already earned a degree but have been in the workplace for a period of time. They can generate training credits using their work experience and specific skills.

Many adults are not confident enough to take these examinations because they taken any exams for a while. This is especially true of those searching for healthcare occupations, such as nursing because of the specialized and healthcare information required to complete the examinations. Programs are available to help get ready for the examinations in particular higher education areas if individual preparation is difficult or if students feel anxious on textbook learning.