Earning Credit by Examination
Students may earn up to 27 hours of undergraduate credit by successfully completing a College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exam or a DANTES standardized test. Credit is granted for these exams based on the scoring recommendations set by the College Board Assessment Program.
Students with CLEP or DANTES credit should consult the Lindenwood registrar to determine whether their achievement on the exam(s) qualify them to earn university credit.
Notes: (1) Students may not use CLEP or DANTES credit in the place of the following requirements or courses: student teaching, internships, studio courses, laboratory courses, or private music lessons.
(2) Students may not receive credit for courses they have previously audited or attended unofficially.
(3) CLEP credit will not be awarded to non-native English speaking students who complete a CLEP exam in their native language.
(4) Lindenwood University does not currently administer College Board Examinations; the student must arrange to have test results sent directly to Lindenwood for evaluation.
Students who pass a CLEP/DANTES proficiency examination have two options when applying for credit. The student may request that the test score be used to waive an equivalent course at the university. In this case, no credit is awarded to the student, and no credit is posted on the student’s transcript. A waived course applies no credit toward graduation. For advising purposes, a note will appear on the student’s transcript for advising purposes, indicating that a course has been waived. There is no additional cost for a course to be waived.
Alternatively, the student may request that the exam score be posted to the transcript as university credit for a fee of $90 per credit hour. In this case, the credit applies toward the total number of credit hours required for graduation and becomes equivalent to a course taken at Lindenwood.
Notes: (1) This fee is subject to change. Please consult the fee schedule for current rates.
(2) The charge for the posting of credit for a proficiency examination is a flat rate. It may not be included in the student’s full-time tuition or any other enrollment charge nor will the student be charged an overload fee.
In addition to the standardized CLEP/DANTES exams described above, students may seek credit for (or waiver of) university coursework by means of taking and passing internally administered proficiency exams. Students should approach their respective departments to learn more about the proficiency exams that have been created for this purpose within their college. As in the case of CLEP/DANTES credit, a student who passes an internally administered proficiency exam may (1) request to have the course waived, in which case no credit will be granted or (2) request credit for the exam and have the appropriate credit posted to the transcript for a fee of $90 per credit hour. In this case, the student’s cumulative grade point average is not affected because only credit (no grade) is recorded for a course completed in this manner.