There are many opportunities for students to earn college credits at lower cost and apply those credits to future academic programs.
Many programs exist which allow students to earn college credits for free or at least for significantly less cost than is traditionally charged by universities. These programs included advanced placement credit, CLEP credit, dual credit programs, free courses offered by local colleges and universities, prior learning credit, and more.
Free College Courses
Many colleges and universities will offer free courses from time to time for a variety of reasons. These reasons may include partnerships with the local community or local high schools to improve access to higher education in the local area; federal, state, or local grants the institution has earned to provide free courses to students in particular programs of study or to students who meet a particular set of criteria; or free courses offered as a part of a marketing effort by the institution. These free courses are typically offered only for short periods of time and may not result in anything more than a half or one credit of study. However, if you are considering going back to college or if your student is concerned about whether they will be able to handle the rigors of college, a free course may be an excellent introduction to the institution and allow the student to achieve some measure of success.
Advanced Placement (AP) Credit
Advanced Placement Programs are administered by The College Board. The AP Program has its own web site at http://apcentral.collegeboard.com. There is a cost for AP exams, but this fee is typically only 1/3 to 1/5 the cost of earning credit for a course at an applicable college or university. AP Credit is awarded only for earning an established score on an AP Exam. Typically, earning AP credit involves investing a significant amount of time and energy into completing the requirements of an AP course offered by a high school in order to prepare for the AP exam. Taking the AP course is not required to register for and complete and AP exam, however the format of AP exams is significantly different from other exams the student may have taken before so simply gaining experience in test taking skills is a benefit of the AP courses.
Advanced Placement score requirements are set by each institution so you will need to contact the institution(s) you are considering attending in order to determine a) if they accept advanced placement scores; b) what courses they accept advanced placement credit for; and c) the score needed on the advanced placement exams in order to earn credit in specific courses. It’s also important to consider when deciding whether or not to invest time in an advanced placement course and the test process whether or not the course the student would earn credit in is necessary for the student to take in college or if there might be other ways to earn that same credit.
CLEP Tests
CLEP, or College Level Exam Program, tests offer students the opportunity to earn college credit through exam. The cost for CLEP exams is currently about $80 per exam, although institutions may set their own administration fee for the exam so you may pay slightly more or less. However, when you compare this to the average cost of a three credit hour course plus text books which averages around $600 per course you can see that significant savings can be realized. CLEP exams are offered for a variety of courses. Institutions set the acceptable scores for each course for which they accept CLEP scores and may also set limits on the amount of credits which may be earned through testing.
CLEP exams are an attractive alternative to the AP exam process – not because they are easier, but because they are available for a wider number of courses.
Early College Programs
High schools and colleges often partner to offer students the opportunity to earn both high school and college credit through completion of a single high school course. The costs of such programs vary widely from free to one-half the cost of the same course in a college or university. These early college programs have a variety of different names, but may be called dual credit, dual learning, dual enrollment, early college, or early college/high school courses. The steps involved in these programs vary as much as the costs and names of such programs. The steps though often involve completing the registration form for the College or University that will be awarding credit. It’s important to realize that these are real college credit courses and you will have a grade earned in a college or university for completing this program – regardless of what that grade may be. If the student is not committed to the course or experiences extreme difficulty with the course, the student may earn a grade of F at the college level which can make future college admissions and financial aid more difficult.
Prior Learning Credit
Whether you are a high school student who has done extensive volunteer and community service work or study on your own which may allow you to demonstrate competency and completion of a college course or you are returning to school after having worked in the private sector for several years, you may be eligible to earn credit based on this actual life experience. Credit for life experiences may be called prior learning credit, experiential learning credit, or credit for work. Higher education institutions often use standards set by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (http://www.cael.org/) to manage their prior learning assessment programs. In order to earn credit for prior learning, students will most likely need to take an exam or create a portfolio that is then graded or evaluated by a member of the college or university staff. There is typically a fee paid for this evaluation process, but it is typically 1/3 or less of the cost of taking the same course.
In many cases, credit earned through these various programs may not transfer beyond the first institution that accepts the credit and so you will need to go through the process of having the institution evaluate these credits for each institution you enter. For this reason, it is important that students maintain copies of all records associated with these courses – including final grade reports, transcripts, and registration records, indefinitely. If students complete a portfolio for prior learning credit, this information should also be maintained indefinitely as prior learning credit rarely transfers from one institution to another so students will need to go through the process of having this credit verified and evaluated again. It’s important to factor this fact into the student’s long term educational plans. If the student is planning to earn multiple degrees from multiple institutions (either multiple undergraduate degrees or an undergraduate degree followed by graduate degree), the student may end up paying for evaluation of credit multiple times.
It’s also important to understand that institutions may place limits on the amount of credit which can be earned through means other than traditional courses. Students must review the requirements at the institution carefully to understand the requirements and limits on credits earned in these less than traditional ways.
Disclaimer: Advice provided by CollegeForKatie.com is for informational purposes only. Material changes can and do occur. Programs, plans and definitions may change. Therefore, we encourage you to do your own research as we accept no responsibility for the information provided here.
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