I was wondering how useful Cleps are towards a degree. I'm planning on getting a degree in physical education/coaching. 67 credits needed for this particular degree. I'm also looking at a degree towards teaching History. Any insight would be much appreciated.
It depends on the school but as far as I know there are a great deal of schools out there that accept them. The CLEP tests are great if you want to knock out your Gen. ed. with only some studying and one test. I will say this though, the CLEP study guides do not include everything you need to pass that particular test. Good Luck.
The college catalog should tell you how many CLEP, Dantes, and Military experience credits the college will accept. There is usually an office at the college that looks at your transcripts and puts credits toward general degree requirements such as math, English, social science. If you want to use credits that are specific toward your degree ( i.e. you need a first aid class for the physical education degree, but you already have three credits because of your Coast Guard time) you will need to talk to your advisor, and then usually the physical education department head to get any classes waived. Have you done an educational assessment through the CG Institute?
The only glitch I found was proving that the CLEP math portion met my degree requirements. The general description wasn't in-depth enough, and I'd taken it so long ago, that I ended up having to take several math courses.
Good thing I did, too. Did you know they've invented all sorts of new math processes since I left high school?
CLEP test are an excellent choice for meeting your degree requirements. A lot of colleges accept CLEP. If the school you are interested in, or the degree is in the SOC network, they will give credit for CLEP. For information on CLEP, and to search schools that accept CLEP go to http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html Do not forget that several other free exams exist, including DSST's and ECE's. See http://www.dantes.doded.mil for more details on tests. Better yet get a copy of DANTES Examination Programs from your ESO.
Franklin University transfered the credits very generously for me. Some 3 credit tests were transfer equivalence for a 4 hour class and 6 hour test for 8 hour class... They are certainly worth the time.
It is about $$$. Some schools will give some credit for CLEP Tests others won't. Paper mills such as University of Phoenix will give some assuming you take a certain (large percentage) amount of all your courses from them. At best figure no more then 15 or 20 semester hours; and if one school gives credit and you transfer to another school they might not. That is the reality of college credit for military service and CLEP, etc.
Most colleges will let you transfer up to 30 credit hours if you are seeking a degree from them.
The one thing you should consider about CLEPs; They are pass/fail tests therefore they will not help your GPA.
Although they are great if all you want is a undergrad degree, they may hinder you from getting into a grad school because you do not get to use them to show an acceptable GPA.
I had over 30 clep credits that helped out a lot since my degree is through Excelsior College (formally Regents) they have no limit to how many credits you can transfer in (I had credits from 3 colleges, my CLEPS, and military credits) though it my not help you get a PE/Coaching degree it would help with a history degree....
As a former education officer, I tried to always encourage ppl to take at least one CLEP to show them how easy they were.....my selling point was telling them that they were written so DOD ppl could pass them.......so CG ppl should have no problem .
The fact that they are a credit without GPA can also help you. I carried 30 hours of Cleps and about 15 hours of DANTES testing into my BA. I made good grades on the course I actually took and had a high GPA. When I applied for law school at Loyola they accepted the BA with the GPA incorporated onto the CLEP credits.
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