CLEP Exams

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The College-Level Examination Program® (CLEP®) offers you the opportunity to receive college credit for what you already know by earning qualifying scores on any of the 33 CLEP examinations. CLEP exams allow people who have acquired comprehensive subject knowledge through independent or prior study, on-the-job training, or cultural pursuits to show that they have acquired college-level material.

Eligibility

  • Adults returning to school
  • Military service members
  • Traditional-age college students
  • Home-schooled students
  • Speakers of world languages looking to fulfill their language requirements
  • International students who want to translate their overseas courses into credit at U.S. colleges
  • Applicants for master’s degree programs looking to fulfill undergraduate prerequisites
  • Professionals wanting to advance in their careers

Locations

Currently, CLEP exams are given at the Rio Tempe, Thomas, Southern, LLC, Queen Creek, and Luke AFB testing centers.

  • Communiversity at Queen Creek
  • Rio Testing at Surprise
  • Rio Salado College at Luke
  • Rio Testing at Tempe
  • Rio Testing at Thomas
  • Rio Testing at Southern

See All Testing Locations and Services

See the full list of College Closures and Limited Service Days

All exams are offered by appointment only. Click here to request your exam. The last CLEP exam for the day will be administered no later than 2 hours before the Testing office closes.

Fees and Methods of Payment

  • CLEP fees will be collected as part of your online registration for your CLEP Exam. Please visit the College Board site to Register Today.
  • $93.00 CLEP test fee effective July 1, 2023.
  • $25 Rio Salado College administration fee that is paid on the day of the test.
  • $10 fee for each optional essay. If your institution does require the optional essay, it must be ordered and paid for in advance and may take up to 2-3 weeks from when they are ordered. To order an optional essay, please call 480-517-8560. MCCCD accepts College Composition (ENG101) which has an essay component and does not require ordering it in advance, or an extra fee.
  • The proctoring fees at Rio Salado Avondale, Southern, Northern, Thomas, Queen Creek and Surprise testing locations may only be paid by Money Order made payable to Rio Salado Community College.
  • Proctoring fees at the Tempe location may be made by credit card, checks and cash during Student Business Services open hours. If Student Business Services is not open, only money orders made payable to Rio Salado College will be accepted.

Photo Identification

Photo identification is required. Candidates must present one valid, government-issued ID that has both a photo and a signature.

Unacceptable ID Documents:

The following documents are not acceptable forms of ID for the CLEP examinations:

  • Credit or debit cards of any kind
  • Social Security card
  • Employee ID

Titles and Descriptions

CLEP offers 33 exams in five subject areas, covering material taught in courses that you may generally take in your first two years of college. Most CLEP exams are designed to correspond to one-semester courses, although some correspond to full-year or two-year courses.

Exams are approximately 90 minutes long, with the exception of College Composition, which is 120 minutes. Exams contain mainly multiple-choice questions. College Composition and a few other exams contain other types of questions and essays.

CLEP Exam titles and descriptions

Study Materials

Scores

All examinations are scored on a scale of 20-80. You will receive a copy of your exam score immediately upon completion of the exam unless you have taken College Composition. For this exam you will receive a combined score after the essay has been scored, about three to four weeks after your test date.

For more information, you can visit the CLEP Collegeboard page on scores.

Credit and Transcripts

To receive credit, score reports must be received by the credit granting institution directly from the College Examination Board. Additional CLEP transcripts may be ordered directly from CLEP online or at 800-257-9558.

Credit received through CLEP is transferable within the Maricopa Community Colleges, but may not necessarily transfer to other colleges and universities. Read the MCCCD policy on credit by examination. It is the applicant's responsibility to consult with the institution that will be receiving the test scores to ensure that the proper tests are taken and to verify the schools' acceptance of the examination.

Credit awarded for CLEP displays on the college transcript in the section "Credit Awarded by Advanced Standing" and will have a "CL" in the note column. To view this credit, please login to your Student Center at my.maricopa.edu.

Repeating Tests

You may not repeat an examination of the same title within three months of the initial testing date. If you retake the examination within the three-month period, your administration will be considered invalid, your score will be canceled and any test fees will be forfeited.