The College Level Examination Program, or CLEP, is a great option for students who want to get credits for college either at their own pace or in a more affordable manner. Many students have taken advantage of the program, opting to study for and take the cheaper exam at their own pace in order to save money. In an educational atmosphere where prices continue to rise exponentially, it is no wonder that many are taking advantage of it.
However, many people either don’t know about this option or have numerous questions about its reliability and or cost efficiency. As it turns out, the CLEP is both accepted widely and extremely affordable. Indeed, saving money by taking the CLEP is not as hard as you think.
To begin with, the purchase cost to take a CLEP is only $77, as compared to the thousands you would shell out to take the course. $15 to $20 is also added for administrative costs at community colleges. All-in-all, with the amount of credits you will receive upon passing the exam, you are only paying around $30 per credit hour. $30 per hour versus $200 and above per credit hour—somewhere in the ballpark of $8000 to $10,000 and above at a four-year college: as you can see, you are saving a lot.
Next, we have to remember that you will have to study for these exams in order to make sure that you pass it. There are numerous different subject exams administered in the CLEP, and each you will have to spend the $77 plus $15-20 per exam. Then you will want to buy a study guide for the particular test and make sure you are buying a quality one in order to ensure that you learn the material and pass the test. While there are numerous free guides, you will want to buy the study guides—which are also quite affordable—to do well on the exam!
All-in-all, in order to take either a general exam—in college composition, humanities, mathematics, natural science, social science, and/or history—or a subject exam in numerous different subjects, you will be spending between $100 and $200. Again, some people have sticker shock at even this price, but compare this to the thousands you will be coughing up to take the class at a university.
If you would like a cheaper alternative that allows you to move at your own pace, consider the CLEP! It is more affordable than you think!
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