NEW YORK — In keeping with its mission to expand access to and equity in higher education, the College Board announced plans this morning to implement a new Internet-based testing (iBT) and registration platform for its College-Level Examination Program® (CLEP®), the most widely used college-based credit-by-examination program in the United States. CLEP — which enables students of all ages and backgrounds to earn college credit by demonstrating their mastery of college-level material — will begin transitioning its 33 exams from the existing computer-based testing (eCBT) system to a more stable, convenient and accessible online platform (iBT). The implementation of iBT at more then 1,700 test centers will take place in phases, with all CLEP test centers projected to be fully compatible by early 2014.
“This transition is a major step forward for the CLEP program,” said Steven Titan, vice president of CLEP and ACCUPLACER®. “By moving to iBT we will help even more students across the country achieve their college goals in an easy, accessible and streamlined way.”
The implementation of iBT will be integrated with the CLEP testing and registration experience for test center administrators and students, saving everyone involved considerable time and effort. Student registration information will be collected and processed online via the new “My Account” feature, which will be integrated into the CLEP website. When fully implemented, “My Account” will enable students to manage many tasks online, including on-demand registration, finding the nearest CLEP test center and scheduling an appointment, updating registration information prior to test day, accessing test center and score recipient information, and purchasing study materials.
CLEP’s migration to the iBT platform will also simplify the registration and testing process for test center administrators by eliminating many of the manual data input processes required by the current system. Test center administrators will be able to automatically download all pertinent information about a testing session, thus reducing administrative activities on test day and enabling students to begin testing immediately upon arrival at the test center.
Over the 18-month transition period, in collaboration with Educational Testing Service (ETS), CLEP will deliver materials, communications, webinars and professional development trainings to institutions and students to achieve a seamless migration and successful implementation of iBT.
For detailed information on CLEP’s transition to iBT, including benefits, process changes, technical requirements, FAQs, timelines and more, please visit http://clep.collegeboard.org/internet-based-testing.
Accepted by 2,900 colleges and universities, CLEP provides an opportunity for students to advance to more challenging and engaging college course work while saving money and time to degree completion in the process. The program serves traditional and nontraditional students, including military and home-schooled students, who have gained knowledge of the material through independent study, advanced high school courses or job training.
In the 2010 study Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success, the Council for Adult & Experiential Learning revealed that students who earn credit through prior learning assessment (PLA) programs like CLEP can save anywhere from $1,605 at a large public university to around $6,000 at other institutions. In addition, they have higher graduation and persistence rates, and a faster completion time to their bachelor’s degree than students who do not engage in PLA programs.
For more information on CLEP, please visit http://clep.collegeboard.org.
About the College-Level Examination Program® (CLEP®)
Developed by the College Board, CLEP® is the most widely accepted credit-by-examination program in the nation, working with over 2,900 colleges and universities and administered in over 1,700 test centers. This rigorous program offers traditional and nontraditional students the opportunity to earn college credit for demonstrating mastery of course content in any of the 33 exams. Students who earn credit through CLEP perform better in subsequent upper-level courses and complete their degrees at a higher rate.
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Contact: Sandra Riley, The College Board, 212-713-8105 communications@collegeboard.org