Volume XXXV, No. 16 Marching Forward: Veterans, CLEP, and Student Success When I first started working in a college testing center in 1999, one of the first things I had to dowas to become �CLEP Certified.� I had no idea what that meant exactly, but it was somethingthat needed to be done, so I did it. I completed training through The College Board (theorganization that administers College Level Exam Program tests, aka CLEP) and received a littlecertificate indicating I had completed the �CLEP Test Center Administrator Training Course.� Little did I realize at the time how much this exam and its overall impact on students wouldinterest me. When I was in college at the University of Oklahoma, I knew vaguely of the CLEP exams. In theearly 1990�s, the exam was only available via paper/pencil, and in most places (like OU) it wasevery third Wednesday after a full moon (a slight exaggeration, but let us say it was not offeredvery often and was publicized even less). Today, the exam is administered via computer(paper/pencil exams are still available in certain cases which require that method), so the numberof exams taken and the frequency of those exams have gone up dramatically. No longer a bigcampus secret, CLEP exams are a viable method to obtain credit for college-level courses, whether they be core degree requirements or general electives needed for degree completion. Today over 1,700 colleges administer CLEP exams, and these exams are accepted at roughly 2,900 colleges and universities. According to The College Board, approximately 183,000 CLEP examswere administered in 2011-2012, with over seven million exams taken by students since theirinception in 1967. This credit-by-examination program serves a diverse group of students, including adults, non-traditional learners, and military service members (of that 183,000, approximately 55,000 were military service members). Not only does it serve a broad-basedcohort, but it also validates knowledge learned through independent study, on-the job training, or experiential learning, and translates that learning into college credit that is commonlyrecognized. This point will be discussed further when I detail CLEP exam development. The 33 total exams themselves are broken down into five general categories: history and socialsciences, business, composition and literature, science and mathematics, and foreign languages. All exams are multiple-choice in nature, with the English Composition and modular examshaving an essay portion, which is graded either by faculty or College Board personnel (a school�spolicy dictates which method institutions will use). Immediate score reports (except exams withessays) are available to students and college personnel as a result of the multiple-choice testconstruction. The scoring is done on a �rights-only� system (no penalty for wrong answers, muchlike the College Board Advanced Placement Exams). The exams are scored on a scale of 20�80� with the American Council on Education (ACE) recommending a credit-granting score of 50 foreach CLEP exam. This is a scaled score, equivalent to earning a C in the relevant course. Whilethe minimum CLEP score required for each subject varies from exam to exam and from college to college, the ACE score is a recommendation, and the credit-granting policy of each college oruniversity determines the passing grade. The fee for the exam, as set by the College Board, iscurrently $80.00 (Colleges charge administrative fees that will vary to administer CLEP). That feeis paid by the student at the testing center. CLEP and the Military This past February, a colleague and I had the opportunity to make a presentation regardingmilitary personnel and prior learning assessments (namely CLEP) at the Military Symposium forHigher Education, hosted by the University of Louisville. During that presentation, wereferenced a quote by Dr. Anthony Dotson, Veterans Resource Center Coordinator at theUniversity of Kentucky. Much to our surprise, after the presentation was over and we were in the�Q and A� session, Dr. Dotson stood up and offered even more insight into his use and advocacyof CLEP for military students. He stated �I�m a huge proponent of CLEP. In fact, I CLEP�d my freshman year of college. I encourage all incoming veterans to consider taking CLEP prior to theirarrival at UK, especially if they have not left active duty, as the exams are at no cost to them. CLEP can allow these nontraditional students to enter college a little better prepared and not asfar behind their traditional student peers.� CLEP exams are available to eligible military personnel to assist them in meeting their educational goals. The Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) fundsCLEP exams for eligible military service members and eligible civilian employees (specificallyDepartment of Defense Acquisition Personnel). It is important to note that these exams are CLEPand not the traditional DANTES individual subject or general exam administered to militarypersonnel. The U.S. Government will fund CLEP exams (one attempt per title) for the followingmilitary groups: � Military personnel (active duty, reserve, National Guard): Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, National Guard(s), and their designated Reserves. � Spouses and civilian employees of: Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Coast Guard (active and reserve). Military Veterans can receive reimbursement for CLEP exams and exam administration fees bycompleting and submitting the �Application for Reimbursement of National Exam Fee Form 220810� located at http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-22-0810-ARE.pdf. Please note that the Department of Veterans Affairs will not reimburse veterans for fees to take pre-tests (such asKaplan tests), fees to receive scores quickly, or other costs or fees for optional items that are notrequired to take an approved test. In the past academic year, The College Board and DANTES have recently launched a pilotprogram with college/university test centers. Through this program, eligible DANTES-fundedtest takers attempting a test title for the first time will not only have their exam fee funded by DANTES, but participating test centers will also waive their administrative fee (usually between$20 and $25). If the test center you have selected is fully funded, "Fully Funded Yes" will appearin the test center description, along with the address, phone number, and test center code. Carlos Paillacar is an example of the impact of CLEP on student success. Carlos retired from theCoast Guard at age 46 after 21 years of service to pursue his education. He stated in a TV interview, �Before I retired, I said to myself, �Well, I speak Spanish, I should take the CLEP inSpanish.�� He received 12 credits for successfully passing the CLEP Spanish exam in the summerof 2012 (and an additional 13 credits from Miami Dade College as part of his Prior LearningAssessment in the area of photography). With credit in hand, he enrolled at Berry College as asophomore with 25 credits and $12,000 in savings, thanks to CLEP. He also added �Berry took mebasically as a second-year transfer student with 25 credits. It basically saved me a year ofeducation.� CLEP Research and Student Success What CLEP did for Carlos is not unique to military personnel. In fact, college students in generalbenefit greatly from the CLEP exam. In a 2010 study of Florida public institutions, preliminaryresults found that: � CLEP students graduate in less time than non-CLEP students. � CLEP students have higher GPAs than non-CLEP students. � Students earning credit through CLEP perform better in subsequent English courses thannon-CLEP students. But the data and results did not stop there. The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning(CAEL), in cooperation with the Lumina Foundation for Education, published a study entitled�Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success� in March 2010. The study, which surveyed PriorLearning/CLEP data from 48 nationwide institutions, found that in the areas of Persistence in College (i.e., retention), Time to Degree, and overall Degree Attainment (within 7 years), PriorLearning (PLA) students completed course and degree requirements at a pace that was twotimes, and in some cases as much as three times, greater than their non-prior learningcounterparts. In a separate study released by CAEL in April 2011, research found that Hispanic, PLA students earned bachelors� degrees at a rate that was almost eight times higher than that of Hispanic, non PLA students. In addition, African American PLA students earned bachelors� degrees at a rate that was almost three times higher than that of African America non-PLA students. Thesefindings suggest that CLEP/PLA could be a potentially important strategy for helpingunderserved or disadvantaged student populations succeed in completing postsecondarydegrees and at a substantial cost savings. While the Florida and CAEL/Lumina data are fascinating and certainly thought provoking, Iwanted to see if those outcomes would be duplicated in regard to my own test takers. After Icame to North Lake College (NLC) in the summer of 2009, I created an initiative where I wouldrecruit Spanish-speaking, new-to-college students to take the Spanish Language CLEP exam. Ihad experienced success with that specific cohort while I had been at Tarrant County College, and knew that the ability exhibited by those students was often a stepping stone to a collegecareer. In fall 2009, 54 high school and first-time-in-college (FTIC) students tested using theSpanish Language CLEP. These students were all tested at the North Lake College Testing Centerin Irving. Of those 54 students who tested, 47 entered college (87%). In comparison, the numberof first-time-in-college, degree-seeking students in fall 2009 was 1196. Two years later, in fall2011, the number of �CLEP� students retained was 43, or 92%. By contrast, the retention percentage of those 1196 students was only 58%. The retention for NLC students was a very positive piece of data, but the success did not stop there. The overall GPA of those 47 �CLEP� students who were retained after two years was 2.93, while the overall NLC student GPA for the cohort who entered college at that same time wasonly 2.18. Much like the outcomes generated from the Florida study, students who takeadvantage of CLEP as a prior learning assessment can and will succeed at a higher rate than the �average� student. Summary Students who earn college credit via CLEP are more likely to persist through college, whichcreates higher retention rates for your school. Those students are also likely to have higher GPA�s when they graduate or transfer, leading to increased student success. In today's world of decreased state funding, lower retention and graduation rates, and increased scrutiny from agovernment perspective, it is imperative that we in higher education use all of the tools in ourarsenal to create strong student success and allow students to achieve the dream of a collegeeducation. CLEP is such a tool. Kent Seaver, Director of Learning Resources For further information, contact the author at North Lake College, 5001 North MacArthurBoulevard, Irving, TX 75038. Email: kentseaver@dcccd.edu References College Board. "CLEP program helps veterans and active military to achieve higher education." [Programa CLEP ayuda a veteranos y a militares activos a alcanzar una educaci�n superior]. Univision.com. Univision Communications Inc. 05 Dec. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. �Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success: A 48Institution Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcome (March 2010).� http://www.cael.org/pdf/PLA_Fueling-the-Race.pdfCouncil for Adult and Experiential Learning. �Underserved Student Who Earn Credit Through Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Have Higher Degree Completion Rates Shorter-Time-to-Degree. Ed. Rebecca Klein-Collins (April 2011).� http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/CAEL_research_april_2011.pdf Dr. Robert Henson. �A Comparison of CLEP and non-CLEP Students with Respect to Time to Degree, Number of School Credits, GPA, and Number of Semesters (February 2011).� http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports research/cb/comparison_of_clep_and_nonclepSanchez, Erika L. �U.S. Military, A Growing Latino Army.� NBCLatino 1 Jan. 2013. Web Veney, Christopher, O�Geen, Veronica, and Kowalik, Thomas F. (January, 2012). �Role Strain and Its Impact on Nontraditional Students� Success.� AACRO/SEM Newsletter. Web August 30, 2013, Vol. XXXV, No. 16 Innovation Abstracts is published weekly following the fall and spring terms of �The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 the academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), Department of Educational institutions for their own personal use. Administration, College of Education, 1 University Station, D5600, Austin, Texas 78712-0378, (512) 471-7545, Email: abstracts@nisod.org