Some colleges may let you take the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) to receive college credit.

Currently, 2,900 colleges give credit or advanced standing to students who pass the CLEP.

There is usually a $65 fee to take any of the tests (free to military service members), and the results could save thousands of dollars in tuition.

Types of CLEP exams

General subject exams measure your familiarity with material covered in courses taken during the first two years of college to meet the general education or liberal arts requirements, and are offered for:

• English composition
• Humanities
• Mathematics
• Natural sciences
• Social sciences and history

Subject exams measure knowledge and achievement covered in specific college courses, such as a foreign language course. Subject exams are listed on the registration form.

How does it work?

If, for example, you take French in high school and test at the equivalent of one year of college French classes, you may receive credit for a year of French.

Exam descriptions

Each exam is 90 minutes long (except for English composition with essay) and contains mostly multiple-choice questions; some exams have fill-ins. These are the exams offered:

Composition and literature

• American literature
• Analyzing and interpreting literature
• English composition
• English literature
• Freshman college composition
• Humanities

Foreign languages

• French language (levels 1 and 2)
• German language (levels 1 and 2)
• Spanish language (levels 1 and 2)

History and social sciences

• American government
• Human growth and development
• Introduction to educational psychology
• Principles of macroeconomics
• Principles of microeconomics
• Introductory psychology
• Introductory sociology
• Social sciences and history
• U.S. history I: Early colonizations to 1877
• U.S. history II: 1865 to the present
• Western civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648
• Western civilization II: 1648 to the present

Science and mathematics

• Calculus
• College algebra
• Precalculus
• College mathematics
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Natural sciences

Business

• Information systems and computer applications
• Principles of management
• Principles of accounting
• Introductory business law
• Principles of marketing