What is CLEP?

The College-Level Examination Program is offered through College Board and provides students the opportunity to earn college credit for what they already know by passing an exam in one of 34 different content areas. If students earn a passing score on the exam they have the opportunity to earn discounted college credit at one of almost 2,900 colleges and universities nationwide. 

CLEP was created to help your students:

• Accelerate their college degrees by earning college credit for what they already know
• Advance to more challenging courses
• Save money on tuition costs

DPS CLEP One-Pager

DPS CLEP Matrix (testing sites and college credits awarded for local colleges)

CLEP Informational Webinar

In-person CLEP testing is approved at 28 DPS High School testing centers and DPS vouchers are available upon request. Follow the steps listed below under CLEP Administration to request vouchers. Please work with Kelly Gilmore for support with scheduling and administration. 

Students have the option to take a CLEP test at a college testing center however we strongly advise students/counselors to contact the college test center in advance to confirm the site is open and administering CLEP exams. Students can use DPS vouchers to test however colleges charge a $20-30 fee to use the testing center. 

CLEP Administration

Please refer to the "Test Vouchers" section of the DPS CLEP Testing Handbook to obtain CLEP Vouchers to use for CLEP registration in DPS schools

Benefits of a Test Center

CLEP testing is offered at over 2,000 institutions worldwide. There are many benefits of becoming an approved CLEP Test Center: 

• Early Success.Students can earn college credit in a variety of subjects.
• Convenience. An onsite testing center offers your students the convenience of testing in a familiar environment. Students save money by not paying administrative fees charged to colleges and universities.
• Instant Score Reports.Upon completion of an exam, students will receive their CLEP score, which can be helpful in college planning conversations with school personnel.
• Flexibility in testing.There are no pre-set exam administration dates so exams can be taken year-round when students are ready. High schools can use their equipment, which does not have to be dedicated solely to CLEP.
• One and Done. Once you are an approved testing center, you are approved forever.  Get it done now and future CLEP testing will be simple and easy to organize.

The process of becoming a test center includes applying to become a test center, executing the required contract, training staff, and technical setup and installation of the testing software.  The process takes approximately 2-3 months.   

Learn more about how to open a test center.  Contact Kelly_gilmore@dpsk12.org with questions and to get started on the process. 

Modern States

Modern States offer online and self-paced courses designed to prepare students to take an AP or CLEP exam to obtain college credit.  Each Modern States course is approximately 20-25 hours and includes online lectures, quizzes, tests, and other features. All courses are asynchronous and self-paced. Textbooks and materials are provided online and are free of charge.

Modern States Course Catalog. 
Courses can be completed asynchronously however the College Board recommends that Modern States courses/resources are used to supplement instruction in order to prepare for CLEP testing. 

To get started, a student needs to sign up for Modern States and enroll in a free course.  Once the course is completed, s/he would take a CLEP test.  DPS has vouchers that are $89; however, Modern States also provides vouchers through their Freshman Year for Free program.

Please work with the concurrent enrollment team for support with course/test selection as some CLEP tests have higher passing rates than others.

An official transcript must be requested to transfer college credits from CLEP to the college you are attending in the fall.  Follow the official transcript request process below:

All CLEP exam registrations come with a free score send, which must be used when you register. However, if you don’t select a score recipient institution during registration or you wish to send your scores to additional institutions, you can request official CLEP transcripts for exams via My Account through a secure online checkout process.

1. Go to https://www.collegeboard.org/
2. Click on "Request a Transcript" in the dropdown menu under "My CLEP Account".
3. If you want to send transcripts to multiple institutions, you must complete a transcript request for each institution.