Credit by Examination

Recognizing that many individuals gain knowledge through self-study which may be equivalent to that attained through the completion of formal college courses, Washburn University has adopted a comprehensive program whereby college credit may be granted through means other than enrollment in and the successful completion of prescribed college courses.

The University may grant credit through three national examinations and university departmental examinations. The national exams are the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) Advanced Placement Examinations, the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and the National League for Nursing Examinations (NLNE). The University Departmental Examinations are administered on campus by individual academic departments.

Students must be either currently enrolled at Washburn University or former students of Washburn University in order to have credit awarded and posted to their transcripts. Test scores must be submitted directly from national testing companies in order to be considered for credit. Specific information about the different types of examinations is provided below.

• National Examinations
• University Departmental Exams
• Credit Granted for Military Service
• Return to Academics Page

A. National Examinations

1. College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB): Advanced Placement Examinations
The Advanced Placement exams are prepared, scored and reported by the College Entrance Examination Board. Students should seek information and obtain registration materials through appropriate high school counselors or other secondary school officials.

This program is designed for high school seniors planning to enter college and is administered in conjunction with Advanced Placement courses taught in the high schools. The scores are reported to the University by CEEB. Appropriate credit or advanced placement is awarded at the time of enrollment in the University. When credit is awarded it may be applied to meet degree requirements. When advanced placement is awarded, a student is advanced to a higher level college course without being required to take a lower level prerequisite. Depending on departmental policy and the examination scores which are achieved, an academic department may award either credit or advanced placement or both to a student. No entry is made on the college transcript for scores which are lower than those determined to be satisfactory by the Washburn academic departments.

Students may have Advanced Placement test scores obtained in high school reported to the University for evaluation. Credit and/or advanced placement are awarded to students who have received a score of three (3), four (4), or five (5). Currently a student maybe awarded college credit hours in the subjects listed below as follows:

*The 6 hours of English are to be selected by English Department Chair and student.
**3 to 6 hours of credit will be granted after completion of FR 211, GE 211, or SP 211 with a C or better.
†After completion of HI 111 or HI 112 with C or better.
‡After completion of Upper Division American History course with C or better.

2. College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

a. CLEP General Examinations
A student may obtain credit which will be assigned to one or more of the General Education Divisions by obtaining a satisfactory score on the appropriate College Level Examination Program (CLEP) for Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences and History. Washburn does not award credit for either the CLEP English or Mathematics General Examinations. The CLEP General Examinations are designed to award credit to students entering the University at the Freshman level. Therefore, a student must take the CLEP General Examination prior to his or her first collegiate semester of enrollment in any courses in that division. A student who has attempted credit in any one of the General Education Divisions-Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and History-either at Washburn or another university is not eligible to receive credit from the CLEP General Examination for that division.

Four semester hours of credit are awarded for each of the three CLEP General Examinations (Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and History) which is passed with a score at or above the 50th percentile. No credit is granted and no entry is made on the college transcript for scores below the 50th percentile.

The CLEP General Examinations do not require prior departmental approval. The closest test center for the CLEP is Kansas State University.

b. CLEP Subject Examinations
Some of the CLEP Subject Examinations are accepted by Washburn as a means of obtaining credit for specific courses. These examinations require that the student gain approval of the appropriate Washburn department prior to taking the CLEP Subject Examination. Each department determines if the examination is acceptable and designates the score level which is required for awarding credit.

A student who has attempted credit in the course to be fulfilled by the CLEP Subject Examination either at Washburn or another university is not eligible to receive credit with the CLEP Subject Examination for that course. There is no entry in the college transcript for scores which the appropriate academic department has determined to be unsatisfactory.

Both forms of CLEP testing are for prospective or currently enrolled Washburn students. Because of the nature of the testing services at Washburn, all CLEP results must be posted on a Washburn transcript.

3. National League for Nursing Examinations (NLN)
The NLN Mobility Profile I and II and the nutrition examination for NU 220 are given at the Counseling and Testing Center at Washburn University. The fees for the tests are assessed at the testing center before the exams. The tests are given on a pass/fail basis. Students should contact the School of Nursing for registration information, testing dates, the scores necessary for receiving credit, and cost of the examination.

Top

B. University Departmental Exams

Credit by Departmental Examinations
When a student identifies a course which he or she feels qualified to "challenge" or "quiz-out of," the student should contact the chair of the department offering that course to determine whether a departmental examination could be accepted. If the academic department gives approval for the student to quiz out of a specific course, the student obtains a Credit by Examination registration form in the University Registrar's Office, MO 115. The University Registrar's Office determines that the student is either currently enrolled or a former student who is not currently enrolled in the challenged class and is free of all holds. The student completes the credit by examination registration form and obtains signatures as required on the form. The student must finalize this process by taking the credit by exam registration form to the Business Office where he or she pays the fee for challenging a course by examination. The fee for each credit hour is one-third of the current resident under-graduate per-credit-hour tuition rounded to the nearest dollar. After payment is made, the student returns the top copy of the form to the University Registrar's Office. The student takes his/her copy which has been marked "paid" to the department at the scheduled time of the examination. Under no circumstances will the examination be administered prior to payment. No refunds will be given for exams not taken or not passed.

After the student has taken the exam, the department evaluates it and determines whether or not the student receives credit. If the department determines that credit is to be awarded, credit for the course is posted to the transcript. If the department determines based on the exam that credit should not be awarded, no entry is made to the transcript. If the course is taken to fulfill requirements in a major, a letter grade for the course may be determined by the department and posted on the transcript. The exam may not be repeated; a student may not take a departmental exam for any course more than once. Credit by departmental examination may not be used to repeat courses previously taken by the student.

Credit given by departmental examination is considered residential credit.

CREDIT GRANTED FOR MILITARY SERVICE

Credit awarded for military service is based upon the recommendations of the Commission on Accreditation of Service Experiences which was appointed by the American Council on Education. Credit will be granted to all military personnel in accordance with the recommendations of the ACE Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services. Students should provide their military service record in one of the following formats according to their branch of service: DD 214 form, DD 295 form, Department of Defense transcript, Community College of the Air Force transcript, or the Army/American Council on Education Registry transcript. Military credit is subject to the same limitations as regular transfer credit i.e. technical credit limits and no credit awarded for course duplications. For more information and to secure forms for making application, students should contact the Office of the University Registrar.

Top