PRIORTY SCHEDULING
When high school students register for courses at the community college, they are at the bottom of the priority list. Scheduling priorities, depending on the college, can be determined based on a student’s number of college credit hours completed or currently in progress. If your high school student has earned AP and or CLEP credits, he or she may have higher scheduling priority than peers without early college credits.
Earlier scheduling allows your student to choose top-rated professors and classes at convenient times. More importantly, your student gets a desired course. Oftentimes, courses fill up and you have to go with an alternative course or none at all. When your student gets desired courses at convenient times, your life as a parent is much easier; you don’t have to scramble to find an alternative course to complete the high school transcript. Read about the double-dipping advantage that homeschoolers have: Double-Dipping Credits.
ASSOCIATE DEGREE
Another advantage of earning CLEP credits in high school is that an associate degree can be earned in less time. Community colleges tend to accept most CLEP credits. For example, if your student has earned 30 credits through CLEP testing, he or she can earn an associate degree with only 30 credits more. This makes it possible to earn an associate degree in one year and maybe before high school graduation.
TRANSFER LOOPHOLE
One of the best loopholes for taking CLEP exams is if your state has a Comprehensive Articulation Agreement like North Carolina. Students who earn an associate degree at a community college can transfer the credits used to earn that degree into another state school. This includes credits earned by CLEP even if the four-year school does not normally accept the same CLEP credits. Read North Carolina’s Comprehensive Articulation Agreement.
BE PROACTIVE
Whenever your student takes a CLEP exam, make sure to enter the code of your community college on the exam registration form so the score will be sent to your community college. This will streamline the registration process and ensure that the credits are included. You are only allowed to enter one institution on test day. Alternatively, you can pay $20 to have the College Board send an official transcript of multiple CLEP exams your student has taken when you apply to a college. You can exclude the exams you don’t want the college to see which is great if your child has failed a CLEP. I know this from experience!
Keep in mind, if your student plans to begin a dual enrollment program as early as the 11th grade, the best years to take CLEP exams are 8th – 10th grades. Read my post Which CLEP When: How We Tracked from Middle School to Graduation.
My experience with CLEPs. I have coached my kids and their friends through 16 different CLEP exams over a period of 9 years. Collectively, they have passed 39 CLEP exams and earned over 159 college credits. I’m still coaching my younger son through his CLEP journey. My high school graduates have received full-ride merit scholarships.