Letter to the Editor

Testing out of college classes is easy

Sunday, November 7, 2010

To the Editor:

Did you know that you can "test out of" many college classes and get college credit for doing so?

You can do it through the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), which offers you the opportunity to receive college credit for what you already know.

All you have to do is take tests and earn qualifying scores on any of the 33 CLEP examinations.

The exams cover basic classes such as English Literature, Math, History, Science, Business, Accounting, and many more.

The exams are administered at 1,600 colleges in the United States. Approximately 2,900 colleges and universities will accept credit for successful scores, including many Indiana Colleges and Universities. CLEP exams allow people who have acquired subject knowledge through independent study, on-the-job training, or cultural pursuits to show that they have mastered college-level material.

If you need to brush up on your knowledge, you can borrow CLEP course study guides from your public library and if your local library doesn't have what you need, you can order study guides through the Indiana Library Loan System.

You won't even have to buy the study material.

The advantage of "testing out of" basic classes is that it allows you to shorten the time it takes to earn a degree and save hundreds to thousands in tuition dollars.

The cost of each test is around $75, which is a bargain considering a single class at Ivy Tech is $313 and $816 at Indiana State University for Indiana residents.

So, if you tested out of History 101 and then transferred those class credits to ISU, you would save $741.

Imagine the savings if you did that with 10 classes.

The following schools in our immediate area accept CLEP credits: Indiana State University, Ivy Tech Community College, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, DePauw University, Indiana University-Bloomington, Wabash College, Ball State University, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, and Purdue University-Main Campus.

For more information, go to www.collegeboard.com/clep.

So what are you waiting for?

Amy Burke Adams,

Brazil