CLEP testing is so infrequent, that rather than setting aside designated days, we’ll schedule an evening or weekend session based on your own schedule. This also reflects the reality that CLEP testers often have other obligations during conventional weekday business hours. Realistically, please give us at least two weeks’ notice, but we will try to be accommodating.
Contact us at 575-538-6134, and if necessary leave a detailed message (including a callback number) explaining that you want to take a CLEP test and when you would prefer to take it. Or email the Testing Coordinator at daniel.turk@wnmu.edu.
CLEP
Course replacement test
College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests are offered for students who would like to test out of a course. In other words, a student may take a CLEP test in order to gain credits for a certain class without having to take the actual course. See below for a complete list of tests accepted by WNMU.
1. Students must go to the College Board CLEP website to register, schedule, and pay for the exam: https://clep.collegeboard.org/
2. Contact the Testing Coordinator in the Testing Center to confirm the testing date, 575-538-6134.
3. Talk to the WNMU Business Office, located in Castorena Hall, to pay the $25 CLEP test administration fee. Or scroll down the page to pay online using a debit/credit card.
4. Students must bring the online CLEP registration form, a current pictured I.D. from an official agency, as well as the administrative fee receipt on the scheduled test day.
How the CLEP Program Works
The College Board’s College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) has been the most widely trusted credit-by-examination program for over 50 years, accepted by 2,900 colleges and universities and administered in more than 1,800 test centers. This rigorous program allows students from a wide range of ages and backgrounds to demonstrate their mastery of introductory college-level material and earn college credit. Students can earn credit for what they already know by getting qualifying scores on any of the 33 examinations.
While CLEP is sponsored by the College Board, only colleges may grant credit toward a degree. Not all colleges have the same CLEP policies—some colleges accept credit for a few exams, while others accept credit for all of them. A college often grants the same amount of credit to a student who earns satisfactory scores on a CLEP exam as it does for a student who successfully completes the related course.
Not only do students who earn credit through CLEP have better academic outcomes than their non-CLEP counterparts, they also increase their likelihood of degree completion.
Higher GPA and Better Course Performance
- CLEP students have significantly higher cumulative GPAs than non-CLEP students, when controlling for demographics and prior achievement.3
- Students who earn course credit through CLEP perform as well as or better in sequent or subsequent courses than their non-CLEP classmates who took the introductory course at the institution.1
Learn more about CLEP students’ academic performance in college. Download the CLEP Placement Validity Study Research Brief.
Increased Likelihood of Degree Completion
- Among students enrolled at two-year colleges, earning just one credit-granting CLEP score increases the probability of completing an associate degree by 5.7 percentage points, or 17%.2
- Among students enrolled at four-year colleges, earning a credit-granting CLEP score increases the probability of completing a bachelor’s degree by 1.2 percentage points, or 2.6%.2
- As a group, students affiliated with the U.S. military services experience uniquely large completion effects—2.6 (11%) and 8.6 (18%) increases in probability of earning a bachelor’s and associate degree, respectively.2
Read more about CLEP’s impact on degree completion. Download the CLEP and Completion Research Brief.
Shorter Time to Degree
- Students who took prior learning assessments (PLA) like CLEP and earned bachelor’s degrees saved an average of 2.5–10.1 months earning their degrees, compared to non-PLA students earning degrees.4
- PLA students who earned an associate degree saved an average of 1.5–4.5 months to degree completion.4
- With 13–24 PLA credits, black non-Hispanic PLA students saved an average of 14.2 months to their bachelor’s degree.4
- 92% of institutions offer PLA credits to accelerate the time to degree completion.5
Significant Cost Savings
An adult student who earns 15 CLEP credits to apply toward a degree could save nearly $5,000 at the average public 4-year institution and more than $17,000 at the average private nonprofit institution.6
1. Godfrey, Kelly E., and Sanja Jagesic. Validating College Course Placement Decisions Based on CLEP Exam Scores: CLEP Placement Validity Study Results. College Board Research Report, 2AD (New York: The College Board, 2016)
2. Boatman, Angela, et al., CLEP Me Out of Here: The Impact of Prior Learning Assessments on College Completion(Atlanta: W.J. Usery Workplace Research Group, 2017)
3. Carol L. Berry, A Comparison of CLEP and non-CLEP Students with Respect to Postsecondary Outcomes, College Board Research Note 2013-9 (New York: The College Board, 2013)
4. Council of Adult and Experiential Learning, Underserved Students Who Earn Credit Through Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Have Higher Degree Completion Rates and Shorter Time-to-Degree</a >, Rebecca Klein-Collins, ed. (April 2011)
5. Council of Adult and Experiential Learning, Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success: A 48-Institution Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcome (March 2010)
6. Ma, Jennifer, Sandy Baum, Matea Pender, and Meredith Welch, Trends in College Pricing 2017 (New York: The College Board, 2017)
Exams Accepted at WNMU
Select the images below to view full size.
Practice Tests
Free CLEP Courses and Study Materials
Click here to check out the Free CLEP Courses to prepare yourself for test day.
https://clep.collegeboard.org/earn-college-credit/practice
Register
Sign up for CLEP Examinations
Click here to be routed to the CLEP webpage and register for your exam. Each exam costs $87.00.
https://clep.collegeboard.org/register
Testing Payment
Seat Fee for Testing Services
Effective July 1, 2017, the Testing Center is charging a seat fee for all Accuplacer, GED, HiSET, CLEP, and other Proctoring Services. NES test takers are exempt from paying this seat fee. Use the link below to make the seat fee payment online, cash payments are accepted in Castorena Hall at the Business Office.
https://secure.touchnet.com/C22616_ustores/web/store_main.jsp?STOREID=22
Bring the receipt when you come to the Testing Center for your test.
More Information
New WNMU Students
If you were recently accepted to Western New Mexico University and decided to attend our university, first, welcome! We are excited that you are joining our Mustang family. By now, you may have received word that you will need to sign up for the new student orientation and may require placement testing before you begin the semester. If you are an incoming student, you may or may not need to complete placement testing depending on whether or not you took the ACT or SAT or have math and English transfer credits.
If you took the ACT you need a 21 or better in Reading, English, and Mathematics
If you took SAT you need a 500 or better in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics
If you are a transfer student you need to have passed a college level English and mathematics course with a C or better.
If you met some of the requirements but not all, you may only have to complete a specific portion of the placement tests.
Weather Policy
Any exams that need to be rescheduled due to weather-related closures will not incur any extra fees or charges. If the university closes due to weather, or any other reason, the Western New Mexico University Testing Center closes as well. For the most up to date weather-related closure information, refer to Western New Mexico University’s homepage; in case of a closure, a message will be posted on the university’s homepage.
Test Center General Policies
Western New Mexico University adheres to all of the procedural points required by the testing companies whose tests we administer. Therefore, exceptions to identification requirements, prohibited items, cancellation or reschedule policies, or any other facet of testing company policy, cannot and will not be made.
Each test we offer at the WNMU Testing Center has its own set of compliance criteria mandated by the test sponsor. If you have a policy question or seek clarification on any policy point, please contact the appropriate test sponsor. Familiarity with and compliance to test company policy is the test taker’s responsibility.
Testing Center Fees
- Accuplacer
- WNMU Student- $10.00
- Non-WNMU Student- $25.00
- Accuplacer Transcripts- $10.00
- GED/HiSET
- Seat Fee (per day)- $10.00
- NES
- No Fee
- Exam Proctoring Fee
- $25.00
- CLEP
- $25.00