Since CLEP credit is recorded on your college transcript as pass/fail, what does that mean for your teen’s GPA? Does it help? Does it hurt? Let’s look at two possible outcomes.
CLEP exams don’t give you a grade – they are simply for “credit.” Let’s look at an example of a student taking dual enrollment and CLEP exams in one semester.
Whether or not this helps or hurts your student depends on the overall academic picture. Let’s look at how CLEP can be used to STRENGTHEN your student’s GPA.
For example, say your student earns “straight As” in their college dual enrollment classes, but since they struggle in math, you’re worried about it pulling down their GPA. You can use classes to keep your beautiful GPA by taking the CLEP exam for math. A “just barely passing” score doesn’t do anything to harm your GPA.
Dual enrollment college class, grade A
Dual enrollment college class, grade A
CLEP, just barely passing score: credit
GPA: 4.0
When this strategy is used, the student’s GPA stays strong and the CLEP helps keep it that way!
But, here is a different example. Let’s say your student worked their rear off and CRUSHED their CLEP exams! They got excellent, nearly perfect scores! In this case, your teen ended up in a bad situation because those high CLEP scores took time and attention away from the graded credit (college classes) and resulted in a low GPA.
CLEP, excellent score: credit
Dual enrollment college class, grade B
Dual enrollment college class, grade C
GPA: 2.5
While you’ll need to pass the CLEP in order to earn college credit, only the foreign language CLEP exams are worth more credit with a higher score; all of the other exams are credit / no credit.
The verdict? Always focus the most time and attention on graded credit. If you still have extra time and brain space to do additional coursework, you can add in a CLEP or two. Failing a CLEP doesn’t hit your GPA but failing a class does, set up your student for success by keeping the priority on dual enrollment > CLEP!
