In the Homeschooling for College Credit world, more than half of you will use credit by exam in your HS4CC program. What about the rest of the world? You might be shocked by these numbers, I know I was!
Number of Exams Administered Annually
- DSST: 35,000
- CLEP: 150,000
- AP: 5 million
DSST
- Accepted at about 50% of all colleges and universities for college credit.
- Military Participants: The majority of DSST test-takers are military personnel, as the exams fully funded through the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) program. (translation: free for them)
- DSST exams are available to the general public.
- Cost is currently $100 plus proctoring/testing center fee.
- Test independently at home or a testing center 24/7/365.
CLEP
- Accepted at about 76% of all colleges and universities for college credit.
- Military: Around 50,000 to 60,000 CLEP exams are taken by military members.
- The remaining 90,000 to 150,000 exams are taken by civilians, including high schoolers, college students, and adult learners.
- Cost is currently $93 plus proctoring/testing center fee.
- Full cost waiver is available to everyone for free through ModernStates.org
- Modern States reports distributing 250,000 vouchers to date.
- Test independently at home or a testing center 24/7/365.
Advanced Placement AP
- Accepted at about 85% of all colleges and universities for college credit OR advanced standing. (note that advanced standing does not shorten your degree or reduce your cost)
- 4,950,000 million public/private high school students took AP exams last year.
- 50,000 independent (homeschool or adult) learners took AP exams last year.
- Cost is currently $100.
- Test at an approved high school with during the annual test period.
Revenue
The College Board’s College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) generates annual revenue estimated between $15 million to $20 million.
The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program generates annual revenue estimated at $500 million from AP exam fees alone. (source: Tufts Daily)
The Prometric DSST program generates annual revenue between $3 million to $4 million.
Cost saved per exam taken/used in your college degree. The average college student can save $1,000 to $4,000 in tuition costs by earning credit by exam for just one course, depending on the type of institution and the number of credits awarded for the exam.
- Public, in-state tuition: $300–$1,500 per 3-credit course
- Public, out-of-state tuition: $900–$3,500
- Private college tuition: $2,000–$4,000+
