Most people who follow the traditional college path show up on some campus one day in August, register for class, and begin earning credit. But some folks have figured out ways to earn college credit far in advance of move-in day.
Enter CLEP, DSST, AP, Dual Credit, Dual Enrollment, Early College, and Early Enrollment. These are all ways that students can start earning college credit while still of high school age. You might be thinking that such options are only for the kinds of genius prodigies who graduate from high school at 9 years of age and enroll in college as children. No.
NOTE – 2023 – when I first wrote this post, everyone was essentially on their own when it came to use of alternative credit to avoid college debt. Since then, 2 important changes have occurred. First, Modern States https://modernstates.org/ started their program which is everything I would have wanted if I had been able to create such a program. I am not going to provide a ton of details on this program as you can get all the information you need at their site. Second, the state of Florida made a rule expanding the amount of alternative credit acceptable for any of the public institutions in the state,. Please check if this applies to you, but last I checked all state colleges and universities were required to accept 45 hours of alternative credit from approved agencies. I am going to be looking at more states to see their policies on this.
We now return to the original post on this topic.
These programs are all suitable for regular people, more or less. If you have the academic potential to attend college in the first place, you have the potential to benefit from at least some of these programs, with the following WARNINGS:
- I strongly encourage you to do your own research on these, as none of them are a complete cake walk. They all involve effort, and some also have financial costs.
- NOTE: It is possible, for certain situations, these programs will waste more money than they save you – if you pay to take a CLEP exam before you have sufficient knowledge to secure the score needed for credit at your chosen school, the investment of the test fee is essentially money down the drain.
- Not all college programs accept all types of credit, and others limit the amount of alternative credit that can be applied toward a degree. Nevertheless, such programs are becoming more accepted all the time, so be sure to check with advisors for policies at your planned alma mater.
- There may be fees involved in some programs, but typically they are a fraction of what it would cost to complete the equivalent class in a traditional college program. It should go without saying, but scrutinize the policies for hidden costs before you pursue these programs.
- You might have to travel to a test center in order to secure college credit, which may be inconvenient and expensive depending on where you live.
Since details change constantly, and your situation will be unique, I am not going into deep detail on these – please search the internet or contact the program administrators for full, current information – but here’s an overview:
CLEP and DSST credit – requires taking a test at a cost of around $100 to earn credit for one college level course (typically three hours but sometimes more). You don’t have to take any special classes in advance. If you think you have the knowledge to pass, you can just pay the fee and take the test. Of course, if you pay the fee and fail, no credit, no refund. Also different schools require different scores in order to recognize credit, so do your homework on that as well.
AP credit – involves taking an advanced class while in high school, followed by an exam costing around $100. Similar credit situation to that shown above, but you are required to complete a class before sitting for the test.
Dual credit – class offered to high school students in cooperation with a local college. Students earn credit at both institutions upon completion. There may be costs to the student or these may be covered by the high school, grants, or other funding sources.
Dual enrollment – high school student applies to local college early and high school agrees to honor credits earned at the college for credit toward high school graduation requirements. May be paid for in various ways, such as the high school picking up the tab, merit or need based financial aid, standard college loans, or cash money out of pocket, just to name a few. Even if the student pays for the full cost of the college classes, this can save on the future “opportunity cost” of attending college. This is the time an adult spends outside of the job market earning money and building career experience. Dual enrollment, even if paid for by the student, can accelerate the timeframe to degree completion.
Early enrollment – high school student starts taking, and paying for, college classes, independently, in addition to completing the normal high school curriculum. May involve giving up free time during nights, weekends, or school breaks, as well as paying out-of-pocket for classes. Can help with opportunity costs of the future time to degree, if selected classes apply to that program.
Early college – fabulous program in which local high school district pays for academically talented students to spend a full academic year on the campus of the local college, taking classes with traditional students, and earning a full year of college credit. Typically students are still permitted to participate in extracurricular programs, activities, and events sponsored by the high school. There could still be some student costs, such as textbooks or lab fees.
As with every other aspect of college debt and ways to avoid it (or minimize it), there are many variables in each student’s journey and so more research is needed to customize the optimal program to your needs. As with other money-saving options, it makes sense to at least consider ways to bring down the overall costs of a college degree and reduce your future debt burden. Have a nice day!
Someday Wise 