College Level Exam Program (CLEP)

You may also earn credit by successfully completing CLEP general and subject exams. (CLEP scores are reported directly to you and to NAU’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions if you request.) CLEP scores are not transferred to NAU from another school’s transcript. Your CLEP score must be sent directly to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, where it is entered on your NAU transcript. Please be aware the CLEP credits awarded by NAU do not count toward NAU’s 30-unit residency requirement.

CLEP General Exams

You can earn liberal studies credit from CLEP general exams. To determine how much credit you can earn, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions considers the courses in which you are currently enrolled and those in which you have previously earned credit. You must consult with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to determine how much credit you can potentially earn from each CLEP general exam and how it will count toward satisfying NAU’s liberal studies requirements. For more information about liberal studies credit, see http://www4.nau.edu/aio/Articulation/LScourselist.htm.

You can meet the English foundation requirement in liberal studies by successfully completing the CLEP exam in English composition with essay. To obtain credit for ENG 105, you must achieve a score in the 91st percentile or above.

You can obtain credit in the other liberal studies areas by scoring at the 50th percentile or higher on the CLEP general exams in natural sciences, social science, history, and humanities, as shown in the table that follows. (NAU requires college algebra; therefore, the general exam in mathematics is not appropriate.)

CLEP Subject Exams

Just as NAU evaluates CLEP general exams for liberal studies credit, we evaluate CLEP subject exams for specific course equivalency credit in consultation with your department or college. For more information about liberal studies credit, see http://www4.nau.edu/aio/Articulation/LScourselist.htm.

If you have taken a CLEP subject exam and scored at the 50th percentile or higher, we apply the earned credit to the appropriate course as determined by your advisor and the chair of the department in which you are seeking credit. Please note that for language exams, credit is not awarded for 101-202 in the primary language of the high school you attended.

Dantes Exams

Credit for Dantes exams is based on the same criteria as the CLEP general and subject exams listed in the preceding sections.

College and Departmental Challenge Exams

Individual colleges and departments offer challenge exams for some of the courses described in this catalog. If you feel you have knowledge about a particular subject area and wish to take an exam to demonstrate that knowledge rather than enrolling in the course, you may take a challenge exam and potentially receive credit that way instead. If you wish to take a challenge exam, contact your college or department or NAU’s Counseling & Testing Center for information about eligibility, course syllabi, and application forms.

To take a college or departmental challenge exam, you must obtain an application form from the appropriate college or department or from NAU’s Counseling & Testing Center, get the approval from the college or department administering the exam and from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, pay $30 per credit.  Students can pay the fee directly to the Counseling & Testing Center with the application.

Challenge exams are designed, administered, and graded by the appropriate college or department. If, in the judgment of the college or department, your performance is sufficient to merit the awarding of credit, the course is recorded on your record with no grade associated with it. Otherwise, no entry is made.

Supplemental Exams

Certain departments offer supplemental exams in specified courses to students earning grades of B or C in the prior term who wish to improve their grade. Contact your department to learn about the availability of supplemental exams.