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.