Distance Learning College Programs – Experience May Just Contribute Towards Your Degree
You have a friend who worked as a scheduler for the Air Force. Part of his training involved learning the ins and outs of the atmosphere. Now he’s ready to leave military service and is thinking about going on for his 4-year degree. Believe it or not, his experience in the armed services could work for him. It can actually allow him to skip some classes because of what he already knows.
That doesn’t mean every on campus or online college does this, but many are part of a program that will test and see if the potential student deserves a pass. It’s called the CLEP program, and currently slightly over 2,900 institutions of higher education recognize it.
CLEP stands for College-Level Examination Program. It’s a computer-based exam that measures a person’s knowledge in a particular course, especially if the student in question either took the course previously or gained a thorough knowledge through some other method, like work. Earn over a pre-determined score, and you don’t have to take the course. Students in accelerated programs are often encouraged to take it.
There is one important bit of knowledge when looking for CLEP exclusions; each school treats the program differently. One school will give the full credit for passing the test. Another will let you skip the course, but then require you to take another class in its place. So before registering with the school, examine their policy regarding these exams. If you don’t like it, there is a number of other on campus and online schools out there.
As said before, all exams are administered by computer. They usually take 1 ? hours and consist mostly of multiple-choice questions, with some fill-in-the-blank questions or a possible essay. For instance, the English Composition with Essay includes doing a complete piece in 45-minutes. From there, one usually has another 45-minute block for 50 multiple-choice questions.
Even though the tests themselves are 90 minutes, one should expect to spend two hours from walking in to turning off one’s terminal and leaving. Another important piece of advice is to never take more that two of these exams in one day.
As the exam is administered by computer, it can provide one’s score within minutes of finishing it. Even though you’ll know if you passed or not, no university will take your word for it. You’ll have to wait additional four or so weeks for a printed result to be sent to you and the university. The only exception to this process is the English comprehension test. Due to the essay, one won’t get their score for four weeks no matter what.
The cost of the test is $77 with a service fee charged by the testing center. If one is in or just left the military, the additional charges could either be covered or waved by the federal government. No matter how you look at it, taking the CLEP is not only a considerable time saver, but also save money. Most traditional and online course programs accept as many as 12 credit hours via the CLEP. That adds up to a full semester one ends up not having to take and getting one’s degree that much faster, both on-campus and in distance learning colleges.