CLEP CREDIT AS HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT
Students who prepare for CLEP exams usually study college level material. Upon passing an exam, the College Board certifies that a student has earned credit equivalent to a college level course. A college may either accept or refuse to accept this credit but that has nothing to do with your high school transcript. Homeschoolers have every right to record the effort they put into studying for a CLEP exam on the high school transcript as high school credit.
CONVERTING COLLEGE CREDIT TO HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT
The typical college class is one semester in length and usually worth 3 credits. A three-credit college course is equivalent to 1 high school credit or 1 year of high school credit. For example, if a home-schooled student takes English 111 for 3 credits at the community college, it can count as 1 credit (1 year) on the high school transcript and can substitute for a high school English course. Most CLEP exams are worth 3 credits. If your student passes a 3-credit CLEP exam, the work put into that subject can serve as or contribute to 1 high school credit in that subject. Odds are your student has studied enough hours to serve as an honors credit. Some of these exams require many hours of study. Read my post Double-Dipping Credits and How to Calculate Course Credits.
HONORS LEVEL DESIGNATION
Since home-schooled students can use college courses for high school credit, we have to figure out how to list the course on the high school transcript. For my older children, I listed the coursework used to pass CLEP exams as honors courses because they invested at least 240 hours (8-10 hours a week x 30 weeks) of work into preparing for them. I see plenty of folks listing regular high school courses as honors courses despite the fact they don’t meet the required time investment as honors courses.
Ultimately, it’s up to you, the homeschool administrator, to determine how much work your student put into studying the subject matter. For example, my students passed the College Composition Modular without studying too many extra topics, so labeling that accomplishment alone as honors English did not seem appropriate to me. But that accomplishment along with the other rigorous coursework in English they did that same year, added up to enough hours to count as honors work. Wondering how many hours of study qualify as honors? Read How to Calculate Course Credits.
To weight or not to weight an honors course on the transcript depends on the college and your philosophy. Read Homeschool Transcript Checklist to find out how one community college handles weighted grades. Spoiler alert, the college does not accept a weighted GPA. I did not weight the honors grades of my children, yet they received merit scholarships.
SHOWCASE LIST FOR CLEP CREDITS
Since I listed CLEP courses as honors courses for my two daughters, I created a table on the second page of the high school transcript listing the CLEP exams passed along with the scores. This showcased what they accomplished. I feel the list endorses the honors status of the courses listed on the first page. In addition to listing CLEP accomplishments on the high school transcript, you should also request an official CLEP transcript from the College Board to be sent to the college your student is applying to.
DETERMINING A GRADE FOR YOUR CLEP “COURSE”
If your student has studied a variety of resources to prepare for a CLEP exam, how do you determine a letter grade for the high school transcript? For ideas on how to approach that, read my post Determining Grades for CLEP Coursework.
WHAT IF MY STUDENT DOES NOT PASS A CLEP EXAM?
If your student does not pass a CLEP exam, he or she can retake it three months later. If retaking the exam is not an option, you can weigh out how much time and effort your student put into preparing for the exam. Most likely, your student has worked very hard and put many hours into studying but missed a passing score by a few points. As the administrator of your private school, you can determine how that course will appear on the high school transcript. You can designate it as an honors course or a regular course. The grade can be determined by the materials that were scored throughout the study. For ideas on how to incorporate scored materials into your self-designed CLEP “course” read Determining Grades for CLEP Coursework.
OFFICIAL CLEP TRANSCRIPTS
If you want a college to consider your CLEP credits, request a CLEP transcript from the College Board to be sent to the college. A student can choose which scores to send. Failing scores do not have to be sent when you order and pay for a transcript to be sent. The extra college credits earned through CLEP exams may give your student higher scheduling priority at a college. Read CLEP Advantage at the Community College.
HOW DO YOU RECORD ACTUAL COLLEGE COURSES?
If your student is taking actual college courses like at a community college, they can be entered on the high school transcript differently. I entered each college course in the grade level in which it was taken using the course’s actual name. For example, when my daughter took English III and Math 171 in the 11th grade, I entered those courses in 11th grade slots with those titles because they were substituting for high school level courses. I also added parentheses after each course to indicate where it was taken (e.g., Wake Tech). I used this format for both of my daughters without issue at any college they applied to. Different colleges may request that you use a different format. You will also be required to send an official transcript of those college courses to any college your student is applying to.
DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT WITH CLEP CREDITS BELOW
Disclaimer. Creating homeschool transcripts can be tricky. Colleges may have specific requirements. My thoughts and ideas on transcripts are just that – thoughts and ideas that have served my kids through the college application process. Your experiences may be different. Find out from target colleges what they expect on a home-school transcript.
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.