Credit by Exam

CLEP, DSST, AP, and prior learning assessment: which schools award credit, what requirement it satisfies, and the score each one wants.

Credit by Exam September 6, 2026 AP College Credit Policy: Minimum Scores, Placement, and IB A 3 does not automatically become credit hours. What each AP and IB score buys, how Texas, Florida and California set floors, and where the report has to land. 12 min read
Credit by Exam August 20, 2026 Prior Learning Assessment: Credit for What You Know A portfolio fee is charged whether or not credit is awarded. Before you pay one, check the two cheaper routes and the aid rule that makes PLA credit invisible. 11 min read
Credit by Exam August 19, 2026 CLEP and DSST Credit: What Your School Actually Accepts A CLEP or DSST score is an input, not credit. What a passing score buys — a required course, elective hours, or nothing — is decided by your school's catalog. 11 min read

About this section

Three documents and a one-page letter moved an aid offer by $7,400. Anjali Bhatt has filed the FAFSA four times — twice for herself, twice for a younger brother — and learned the process the slow way: selected for verification once, holding award letters that did not match the net price calculator twice. She is not a financial aid officer and does not speak for any school. These guides work from the Federal Student Aid Handbook, Dear Colleague Letters, and each school's own published policy, and where a rule genuinely differs by campus they say so instead of inventing one answer.

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Every guide cites the agency, statute, or document it was checked against, and carries the date it was checked. Rules change — if something here is out of date, tell us and it gets corrected.