Earning Credit by Examination
In addition to the standardized CLEP/DANTES exams described below, 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. 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 $100 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.
Lindenwood University accepts College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) credit earned in several areas of study. Lindenwood students who take CLEP or DANTES exams should request official score reports be sent to the Office of Academic Services for an evaluation of credit. Credit will be awarded based on the current minimum score matrix available on the university’s Academic Services webpage and approval of the academic college affected.
Effective July 1, 2023, students no longer pay a per credit hour posting fee to receive credit for CLEP or DANTES exams completed on or after July 1, 2023.
Notes: (1) Students may not use CLEP and/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 and/or DANTES 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.
(5) Students may only earn up to 27 credit hours of experiential learning from all sources. Credit earned from CLEP and/or DANTES examinations is included in the 27 credit hour experiential learning credit limit.
Students who have earned the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy may receive up to 12 hours of college credit. Six of the credits awarded through this process will be accepted as Foreign Language coursework within Lindenwood’s General Education curriculum (GE-HC: Foreign Language / Human Diversity).
The number of credits granted will be determined by the score attained and by the specific assessment used to confer the Seal at the granting school:
- STAMP4S Exam: With a score of at least Intermediate Mid in all test areas, 6 hours of credit; with a score of at least Intermediate High in all test areas, 9 hours of credit; with a score of at least Advanced Low in all test areas, 12 hours of credit.
- AAPPL Exam (ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages): With a score of at least Intermediate 3 in all test areas: 6 hours of credit; with a score of at least Intermediate 4 or 5 in all test areas: 9 hours of credit; with a score of at least Advanced: 12 hours of credit.
- Other exams may be accepted dependent upon available subject matter expertise in the relevant language(s).
Transcription fees for credits awarded will be waived.
Note: Students who have earned the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish and wish to continue their Spanish coursework at Lindenwood University must take the University’s Spanish placement test (online and at no cost to students) to determine at which level they will continue their Spanish language study.