Today, I want to share a section from my book Homeschooling for College Credit. I’m often asked if I think CLEP is starting to decline in popularity or acceptance. I don’t have to guess- we have data!
We sometimes hear parents worry that CLEP won’t be available, or that it may decline in popularity. The truth is that CLEP has been around for a while, and it continues to gain acceptance and participation on a global level. While CLEP’s sister brand, Advanced Placement, is generally targeting high school students, CLEP remains open to anyone of any age- young or old! When did you first hear of CLEP? For me, I remember exactly – 2005 in the book Accelerated Distance Learning. Since I’d been working as a college administrator, student advisor, and faculty member for over decade at the time, I was sure CLEP wasn’t legit. After all, if it was legit, why didn’t my college/employer teach me about it? Why weren’t we telling our students about it? Spoiler alert: I was on the wrong team. Now I’m on the right team, and thrilled to tell everyone who cares to listen!
1965: First testing center
1967: 50 testing centers in the United States (1st exam administered)
1970: 2,000 exams administered in the United States
1972: 500 testing centers, CLEP accepted by 50 colleges
1979: 1,000 testing centers, CLEP accepted by 1,800 colleges
1990: High school students began using CLEP exams
2001: CLEP exam’s format changed from paper to computer
2004: 201,089 exams administered worldwide
2015: 6,000,000 exams administered worldwide
2018: 1,400 testing sites worldwide
2020: 1,700 testing sites worldwide
2020: 2,900 accredited institutions grant credit for CLEP
(this represents just over 1/2 of all accredited colleges and universities in the USA)
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