CLEP in Your Homeschool: Step by Step for Beginners

One of the best ways for your teen to earn college credit in high school is to incorporate CLEP exams into your planning. If you’re nervous about getting started, these 12 steps will get you up and running.

CLEP is a credit-by-exam test that allows your student to demonstrate their knowledge of a subject and earn college credit with a passing score. Think of it as a final exam without taking a specific course first.

The College Level Examination Program (CLEP) is published by the College Board. You may recognize the name because they also sponsor well-known tests such as the SAT, PSAT, Advanced Placement, and Accuplacer. In other words, this is a well-known, respected company. The exam is taken at a testing center or on a home computer, and when a passing score is sent to a college or university, your teen can earn between 3-12 college credits per exam!

There are 34 CLEP exams that your teen can choose from in the following categories: Composition and Literature, World Languages, History and Social Sciences, Science and Mathematics, and Business. Your teen can learn the material through any homeschool curriculum, prepare with some practice tests, take the exam at any time during the year at a local testing center, and save zillions of dollars in college tuition.

CLEP exams are very low risk for a couple of reasons.

1. There is no consequence for failing. If your student fails, they are not required to disclose this to future colleges. In fact, when you request a CLEP transcript sent to a college, you are required to choose the scores that you want sent. In contrast, any classes taken through a college will go on their permanent record and must be disclosed. If your student fails the CLEP, they must wait three months before retaking it. 
2. They can be incorporated right into your high school homeschool program. For example, if they are studying Government this year, you can finish the year by doing some test prep and taking the exam. Even if they fail, there has been no time wasted because they were going to study government anyway. They still earned high school credit and they probably learned more in the process than if they hadn’t studied for the CLEP exam. 

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STEP 1

Take a CLEP test yourself. (Optional but highly recommended!) What, wait!? Me? Yes, if you, as the parent, take a CLEP you will learn a ton about the content, format, and process. It will be invaluable for you as you help your teen. And you probably don’t even need to study. As a homeschooling parent, you have the advantage of prior knowledge and life experience. I took enough CLEP exams to earn an associate degree before any of my sons took one- that insight helped me help them (and you) in valuable ways! Would you take SAT tutoring advice from someone who never took the SAT? A parent who wants to do this quickly without studying can choose to pay for the exam directly instead of earning a voucher. If that’s not in the budget, you can earn a voucher through Modern States to pay for your exam (see STEP 4).

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STEP 2

Decide which CLEP exam they will take. It is most efficient to choose a subject that you are planning for them to study anyway. Look through the classes you have planned for their high school education and compare that with the list of CLEP tests in this article. A common question is, “Which CLEP is the easiest?” The answer is, “It depends.” If your teen is well read, then Analyzing and Interpreting Literature is a great place to begin. US History 1 is a common first CLEP. In reality, there is no “easiest” CLEP; the difficulty is dependent on their prior knowledge and interests. For their first CLEP, choose a subject that they enjoy or have a natural affinity for.

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STEP 3

Choose a curriculum to use and have them learn the subject thoroughly. If there is a most important step, then this is it! CLEP is not about “teaching to the test.” Most CLEP exams require a thorough knowledge of the subject and not Trivial Pursuit-type facts. The good news is that this can be accomplished with your homeschool curriculum. Use your favorite homeschool curriculum or one that has a solid reputation and is recommended by others. Details of the content and distribution for each exam can be found on the College Board website and in CLEP Official Study Guide. Compare this with the curriculum scope and sequence to make sure it covers the appropriate material. 

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STEP 4

Complete the Modern States course and request a voucher. The voucher will bring the cost of the exam to $0. Since they have already learned the material, this should be a relatively quick review and only take 1-3 weeks, depending on the subject and the time they spend each day.

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STEP 5

Prepare for the exam using practice tests. Practice tests will help you assess areas where a more study is necessary. REA CLEP books are my favorite and include three practice tests in addition to summary material at the beginning. I recommend having your teen read through the summary material first. Then have them complete the practice tests and study each question that they get wrong. The book includes not only the answers but also the reasons behind the answers. The CLEP Official Study Guide is also a helpful book to have on hand and includes all of the CLEP exams and one practice test for each. Be aware, though, that Modern States uses the same practice questions that are included in this guide. If you are using Modern States, do not use the practice tests in the Official Study Guide to gauge readiness, but you can still use them for practice. Peterson’s and REA both provide an abundant amount of practice tests.

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STEP 6

Assess if your teen is adequately prepared. Answering 60% of the questions correct on two or more REA practice tests is a strong indicator that they are ready to take the exam. Only use a practice test once. If they score below 50%, they need more time to learn. If all of their practice tests fall in the 50-60% correct range, they are right on the line and could use a bit more learning and a bit more practice testing.

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STEP 7

Create an account at the College Board and register for the test using your Modern States voucher number. If testing at a testing center, you should print the registration ticket and save it to your phone. Bring both to the appointment.

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STEP 8

Schedule the exam via remote proctoring or at a local testing center. You can search for a testing center here.

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STEP 9

Take the exam! You will need to bring the following to the testing center: testing center fee (check to see which payment methods they accept), photo ID, and CLEP registration ticket. If your teen does not have a government-issued id they can use the CLEP Student ID Form. For home-based proctoring, be sure to read the full instructions about setting up your space for test day! Remote proctoring is serious, following the instructions is required.

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STEP 10

See Your Score! CLEP scores are on a scale of 20-80 and not a percentage. The score that most colleges require for transfer and is considered “passing” is 50. With the exception of College Composition, their score will immediately appear on the screen when they finish the test. On a side note, at the end of the exam, your student will be asked multiple times if they want to cancel their score. Tell them to expect this question and to select “no” each time it is asked. Even if they feel they did poorly, the scores are confidential, so there is never a good reason to cancel the score.  If they select “yes” the score will be cancelled and they will NEVER see their score and must still wait three months to retest.

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STEP 11

Submit a reimbursement request for the testing center fee if you took the exam at a testing facility. Modern States will reimburse you, have patience, it can take a couple months.

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STEP 12

Award them high school credit. This is awarded for the work that they do studying for the exam, not for passing the CLEP exam. Even if they fail the CLEP, they have still done the work to earn the credit.  Any high school subject studied for 1 semester is generally worth 0.5 credits, and studied for 1 year is 1.0 credits. The extra work of CLEP preparation and depth of content is a valid reason to bump their high school course to “honors” level on the transcript.