College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)

The College-Level Examination Program® (CLEP®) offers a variety of 90-minute exams that enable interested individuals to earn college credit in a wide range of subject areas. This internet-based testing (iBT) program is open to all students who wish to advance to higher-level courses, test out of a core or major requirement, and/or receive elective credit. As a participant in the program, Saint Xavier is among the 1,400 CLEP testing centers.

Getting CLEP Credit Toward an SXU Degree

SXU students may earn up to 27 credit hours through CLEP's testing program. The University requires a score of 50 on each exam title.* When taking your exam, which will be administered via computer, remember to select SXU as your score recipient.

Testing results are submitted to CLEP electronically, but each student will receive a printed score report upon completing his/her exam (candidates are advised to save this copy for their records). If you selected SXU as your designated recipient, the Office of Records and Registration will receive an official score transcript from CLEP about two weeks after you take the exam. The Office of Records and Registration will evaluate the scores and post credit as applicable. Recorded credit may be viewed on Self-Service on mySXU.

*Candidates seeking 12 credits for a foreign language will need a higher score.

Additional CLEP® Policies Applicable to SXU Students

If you are a SXU student, you cannot receive credit for a CLEP exam if you are currently enrolled in that course or have already taken (or transferred in) its equivalent course. Additionally, you may not use CLEP to replace a failing grade or to repeat a class you dropped and received a "W" in. Consult the list of exams and course-number equivalencies to help you select the appropriate exams. If you do not pass an exam, you must wait three months if you wish to re-take it, per CLEP's policy. SXU will only allow you to re-take a specific exam once.

Additionally, SXU students (except those in cohort groups) are strongly advised not to register for an exam during the semester of their graduation. This policy has been created to encourage candidates to take any intended CLEP exams as early as possible and to allow students sufficient time to review their options after receiving their exam results.

For additional CLEP registration information, please see the CLEP Exam webpage.