Are CLEPs Worth the Risk?
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010CLEP exams are widely touted as a great, highly efficient way to earn college credit. However, many students choose not to take CLEP tests because they perceive them as being somewhat risky.
There are several potentially negative factors that students are worried about when it comes to CLEP tests.
- Difficulty: Some students are worried that CLEP exams are too hard for them. In reality, CLEP tests are no more difficult than the class equivalents, and for most colleges you only need to score at a C-level to earn credit.
- Cost: Another thing that worries some students is the nearly $100 dollar cost for the CLEP. To put this into perspective though, it’s not hard to pay over $1,000 for a college course, while each exam counts for 1-4 college courses.
- Time: Some students are afraid to invest the time to study for a CLEP exam. However, most students can take their CLEP after 2-4 weeks of study, compared to a semester length course.
- Credit: Another area of apprehension is whether CLEPs are accepted at a student’s university. Actually, CLEP tests are accepted at nearly 3,000 colleges, so your chances are pretty good.
- As we see, there are some risk factors involved with taking a CLEP. To ensure success, students should take advantage of CLEP study guides, either in book form, or in online flashcard form. Some great resources in addition to actual study guides, are the practice exam resource available. This helps students diagnose their readiness for the actual exam.
- Yes, there is risk associated with taking a CLEP exam. However, the benefits of CLEP greatly outweigh the risk, especially when you know how to mitigate that risk with proper preparation and research. CLEP exams are well worth the risk, and the benefits they offer in time and money savings are incredible.

