In 2025, you can’t CLEP out of an “entire” associate’s degree, but using this plan, you can CLEP out of most of your Associate of Science in Business Administration degree. I wrote this full degree plan to optimize using CLEP in your homeschool and paired that with tuition waiver vouchers from Modern States, bringing the grand total cost of this degree down to $1,544.
CLEP exams are a powerful tool for Homeschooling for College Credit families. By teaching your own high school curriculum, then letting your teen study briefly through Modern States, CLEP becomes the “final exam” for that subject. With a Modern States voucher, each CLEP exam is free, allowing families to turn ordinary high school classes into potential college credit. University of the People, a tuition-free online university, recently achieved the highest level of U.S. accreditation, making its degrees 100% legitimate. Using the Creative College Funding strategies I teach in my book, I built a plan to complete over half this degree in high school and the rest in just 12 months after graduation.
Maximum-CLEP Degree Plan & Cost Analysis (HS4CC edition)
Goal: Stack as many CLEPs as possible during grades 9–12, then complete the remaining UoPeople courses in less than 1 year after high school.
University of the People recently partnered with Modern States to guarantee acceptance of CLEP exams towards your degree.
We have also worked closely with the University of the People to respect and welcome homeschool graduates into their university.
We are proud to be recognized as one of their partners. To be clear, we do NOT receive any compensation or financial kickbacks for sending you to them. Our motivation is to help YOU save the most money possible and bring resourceful high school planning into your homeschool.
Program & Policy Rules (current catalog)
- General Education for associate degrees (21 credits / 7 courses):
- Distribution of requirements: Information Literacy (UNIV 1001), Quantitative Reasoning (6 credits from College Algebra/Calculus/Statistics), Communication (ENGL 1102 + COM 2001), Values & Ethical Reasoning (PHIL 1404), Civilization Studies (HIST 1421), plus Disciplinary Areas in Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences, and Natural Science (each 3 credits). 【Uopeople Catalog】
- Residency / transfer-in limit. UoPeople may apply up to 75% of credits toward undergraduate programs; for the associate degree, that’s no more than 45 transfer credits (out of 60). 【University of the People】
- Assessment fee (rack rate). UoPeople is tuition-free; undergraduates pay an assessment fee of $160 per course (due at the end of each course). The catalog’s “Total Estimated Fees” table shows $3,260 (20 courses × $160 + $60 app fee). 【Uopeople Catalog】
- University of the People charges a transfer credit evaluation fee of $17 per course.
- Official Modern States ↔ UoPeople CLEP pathway (Associate in Business Administration): UoPeople & Modern States publish an Associate Degree Transfer Pathway that maps many AS-BA and GenEd requirements to specific CLEP exams and tallies 36 credits via CLEP plus 24 credits at UoPeople (total 60). The document explicitly states that following the guide “will ensure transferability” of the recommended CLEP exams to UoPeople.
Structure
60 credits total = 36 via CLEP (in high school) + 24 at UoPeople after graduation (≈8 courses). This honors the official transfer pathway while pushing nearly all GenEd and several Business cores to CLEP for maximum acceleration.
Cost Analysis
| Scenario | Alt Credits Cost (36 credits via CLEP) | Institutional Credits Cost (24 credits at UoPeople) | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest cost (Max CLEP + Modern States) | $0 (covered by Modern States voucher) | $1,544 (8×$160 + $60 app + $17×12 eval) | $1,544 |
| Self-pay CLEP (no vouchers) | $1,164 (12 exams × $97; excludes any test-center fees) | $1,544 (8×$160 + $60 app + $17×12 eval) | $2,708 |
| University of the People classes only (no CLEP) | $0 | $3,260 (20×$160 + $60 app) | $3,260 |
In addition to the savings, two added benefits of using this strategy are:
- Your student doesn’t have to commit to the University of the People at any point in high school. If they change their mind and want to attend a different university, 78% of colleges and universities will accept CLEP exams to some extent, so the likelihood of using the exams elsewhere is very high.
- Your student will graduate from high school with more than half of their degree already completed. This brings the graduation goal post a full year closer and allows them to begin working a full year sooner.
NOTE: UoPeople’s general transfer policy allows up to 45 transfer credits for an associate degree. The published Modern States pathway only guarantees 36. That means additional CLEP could transfer as electives, but there’s no guarantee….but
If you anticipate your student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of the People after this Associate Degree in Business Administration, I recommend you work on a few more CLEPs that can count as electives later – specifically, going as high as possible in math (Calculus CLEP) and adding one more social science or humanities exam.
| Grade | Fall | Spring |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | CLEP Introductory Sociology | CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature |
| 10 | CLEP Western Civilization I | CLEP Principles of Marketing |
| 10 | (student will study biology during both semesters) | CLEP Biology |
| 11 | CLEP Principles of Management | CLEP Financial Accounting |
| 11 | (If finished with Algebra II, the student should begin high school precalculus and take the College Algebra exam at the 1/2 way point in the course.) CLEP College Algebra | CLEP Precalculus* |
| 12 | CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics | CLEP Principles of Microeconomics |
| 12 | (The student will study composition during both semesters) | CLEP College Composition |
*This exceeds the guaranteed degree plan but is recommended. If math is desired in 12th grade, the student can pursue Calculus using the high school curriculum and follow up with the CLEP Calculus exam.
CLEP Degree Match (already in the pathway = 36 credits)
- English/Comp: College Composition (3)
- Math: College Algebra / Precalc / Calc (3)
- History/Civilization: Western Civ (3)
- Humanities: Analyzing & Interpreting Lit (3)
- Social/Behavioral Science: Sociology (3)
- Natural Science: Biology (3)
- Business Core: Principles of Management (3), Financial Accounting (3), Principles of Marketing (3), Microeconomics (3), Macroeconomics (3)
- Elective: “Any CLEP” to be filled by the highest math possible (3)
That’s 12 exams = 36 credits.
By combining CLEP exams with University of the People’s accredited programs, homeschool families can cover over half of an associate degree during high school and then finish the remaining courses quickly and affordably. This strategy enables you to pay for the entire degree in cash, rather than relying on loans, thereby protecting your teen from student loan debt. Be sure to watch for more Creative College Funding strategies and degree plans that show you how to maximize opportunity while keeping your family debt-free.
