I received this question to my email, and while I don’t normally use a college-specific question like this in the Parent Question posts, this specific instance allows me an excellent opportunity to show you how to compare the pros and cons of two otherwise similar opportunities. I loved doing this case study- I’ll spoil it by saying I recommended CLEP, but the learning here is in the “why.”
Specific to Arizona State University, CLEP is the winner, and I’ll share why below, but let’s start with some basics- both AP and CLEP are credit by exam. Credit by exam means a college awards college credit for earning a score on an exam. This is a fantastic strategy because you won’t have to take the class if they accept your exam. In the case of Spanish, it counts for A LOT of college credit, so the student can not only skip the classes, but if they count towards their future degree, they will have saved A LOT of money.
Isn’t AP More Accepted Than CLEP?
Yes, but who cares? This student has their target college picked out, so general acceptance policies should be replaced by specific ones. In other words, it doesn’t matter if ABC Community College or XYZ University accepts one vs the other, it only matters what Arizona State University takes. In this case, they take both.
Cost
Both exams cost about $100, but the voucher program through Modern States nonprofit organization allows you to take the CLEP for free. As such, CLEP is the better price because it’s free.
Prestige
AP exams can be used to strengthen your admissions application when necessary. CLEP and AP are apples in oranges when we talk about ADMISSIONS. (when we talk about college credit, that’s a different discussion). Regarding admissions, many selective colleges look for high school students to take AP courses to seek out the most rigorous curriculum available to them. A strong AP score on the exam reinforces the teacher-awarded grade, and therefore the AP exam and course pair are almost “expected” among selective college applicants. Since CLEP isn’t available as a high school course, CLEP is not used the same way. Arizona State University is a nationally ranked university AND has a 90% admissions rate, so AP classes and exams are not expected. In addition, ASU has an earned admissions process for anyone who isn’t accepted inside the 90%, allowing you to take classes through Universal Learner and just enroll. In short, this is not relevant to this parent’s question.
College Credit
Now we’re talking! The bigger question when comparing between two accepted sources of credit (this can be credit by exam or a dual enrollment course) is what the courses come in as. Your student can never get duplicate credit- meaning they can’t get Spanish 101 credit twice, so the strategy here is to look and see if either exam gives you better credit. I’m looking for the MOST credit and ideally the highest level. In other words, we should expect Spanish 101, but for everything above and beyond that basic class, builds a case for one or the other.
You should know that there are actually 2 different AP Spanish exams and 2 different CLEP Spanish exams available, so I’ll pull the charts for all 4.
ASU CLEP and AP Credit by Exam Policy 2024-2025
AP Policy (from ASU Catalog)
| AP Exam | Score | Credit Award | ASU Courses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Language and Culture | 5 4 3 | 14 11 8 | SPA 201, 202, 294 and 313 SPA 201, 202 and 294 SPA 201, 202 |
| Spanish Literature and Culture | 5 4 3 | 12 11 8 | SPA 201, 202, 313 and 394 SPA 201, 202 and 313 SPA 201, 202 |
CLEP Policy (from ASU Catalog)
| Spanish Language: Levels 1 and 2 | 4 8 12 16 | SPA 101 (Students must score 50–54.) SPA 101, 102 (Students must score 55–65.) SPA 101, 102, 201 (Students must score 66–67.) SPA 101, 102, 201, 202 (Students must score 68 or higher.) |
| Spanish Writing: Levels 1 & 2 | 8 16 | SPA 101, 102 (Students must score 50–59.) SPA 101, 102, 201, 202 (Students must score 60 or higher.) |
| Area Tested | CLEP | AP |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | Yes | Yes |
| Writing | No | Yes |
| Listening | Yes | Yes |
| Speaking | No | Yes |
If you compare the CLEP to AP testing areas, you can see that a student must have a MUCH higher ability to pass an AP exam than CLEP in Spanish. In fact, an AP student must also speak and write, something not tested on a CLEP exam.
So, after careful comparison, my recommendation is as follows:
- If the student is going to take a major in Spanish, AND, the student is currently fluent enough to score “5” on both AP exams, then AP will result in more upper level credit and therefore will check the most boxes toward the degree with a major or minor in Spanish. Spanish major requirements
- If the student is going to take a major in Spanish but does not currently have the fluency to score a “5” choose CLEP because that will meet the most requirements at the lower level. Notice that AP only gives advanced standing and not credit in the 101 levels, so CLEP is the clear winner here for saving time and money while allowing the student to still take ASU courses in the Spanish major.Spanish major requirements
- If the student is not going to major in Spanish, take the Spanish Language CLEP exam instead of the AP Spanish language exam. CLEP awards 16 SIXTEEN college credits, while the AP only awards 8 EIGHT. Your student’s degree map will identify how many credits can be used in their degree, this varies quite a bit.
If the student completes their ASU degree online, the current tuition rate is approximately $500 per credit. As such, the CLEP exam can potentially save your teen $8,000. Buena suerte!!
