CLEP TERMS AND CONDITIONS

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms and Conditions" or "Agreement") are a legal contract between you and College Board ("College Board" or "we"). They set forth important rules and policies you must follow related to taking the CLEP exam. Please read these carefully. If you register for a CLEP exam on behalf of another (for example, a parent for the test taker), these Terms and Conditions govern both you and the test taker (collectively, "you").

Additional COVID-19 related requirements may be communicated to you prior to or on test day from your test center. You agree to abide by such requirements.

All disputes between you and College Board will be resolved through binding arbitration in accordance with Section 10 of this Agreement. You understand that by agreeing to arbitration, you are waiving your right to resolve disputes in a court of law by a judge or jury.

Section 1. Testing Overview

CLEP exams are taken on a computer, either (i) in a test center or (ii) remotely in a private room with online proctoring. In both cases, the online testing platform is operated by our partner, Educational Testing Service ("ETS"). Your access to the online testing platform is subject to certain ETS terms and conditions and privacy policies, which may be found at https://www.ets.org/legal/terms/ and at https://www.ets.org/legal/privacy/, respectively, which are between you and ETS.

  1. If you take a CLEP exam at a test center, the test center will provide you with a computer or other device on which to access the online testing platform. You will not be able to use your own computer. The test center may charge an additional fee to administer the CLEP exam. The test center will admit you to the exam and proctor you as you take the exam. CLEP exams are only offered at third party test centers authorized by College Board. College Board does not operate test centers. If a test center has its own security and other policies, you will be subject to such policies, which are between you and the test center.
  2. If you take a CLEP exam remotely with an online proctor, you will need your own computer and a reliable internet connection. You will be proctored online by a third party remote proctoring company called Verificient Technologies, Inc. ("Verificient"). Proctortrack by Verificient uses the camera and microphone on your computer or other testing device to admit you to the exam and to proctor while you test on the online testing platform. You will be required to accept Verificient's terms and conditions and privacy policy in order to take a CLEP exam. Those terms and conditions and privacy policy may be found at https://www.proctortrack.com/terms-of-service/ and at https://www.proctortrack.com/privacy-policy/ , respectively, which are between you and Verificient.

Section 2. Taking a CLEP Exam

  1. Testing in a Test Center
    1. Admission to the Test Center:
      • You must bring an acceptable photo ID and your printed admission ticket to be admitted to the test center.
      • You must follow the procedures for confirming your registration and identity as set forth at https://clep.collegeboard.org/earn-college-credit/taking-the-test. Please review the procedures in advance of the test.
      • Identification and Other Discrepancies. When there is a discrepancy related to your identification and the admission ticket, or when the information on your admission ticket and photo ID do not match (for example, if your nickname is on one field but your full name is on another), you may be denied admission to or be dismissed from the test center. If you do test, we may decline to score your test or cancel your score.
    1. Required Items for Testing:
      You must bring each of the following items to the CLEP exam in accordance with https://clep.collegeboard.org/earn-college-credit/taking-the-test
      • A valid registration ticket for each exam title from College Board My Account registration portal,
      • Any registration forms or printouts required by the test center, and
      • A form of valid and acceptable identification.
  4. Testing Remotely with Online Proctoring
    1. Eligibility
      • You must be 13 years old or older.
    1. Equipment and Environment Requirements
      • Your computer or other testing device and room where you are testing must meet CLEP Remote Proctoring Requirements, as well as Proctortrack technical requirements located at https://clep.collegeboard.org/clep-exams-remote-proctoring/clep-remote-proctoring-requirements and https://testing.verificient.com/clep respectively.

Section 3. Prohibited Items

You may not bring prohibited items to a Test Center or have access to such items during your test with remote proctoring. Prohibited items include, but are not limited to:

  • Mobile phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, or other wearable technology (simple digital non-smartwatches or analog watches are acceptable)
  • Audio players or recorders, tablets, laptops, notebooks, Bluetooth devices (e.g., wireless earbuds/ headphones), or any other personal computing devices
  • Separate timers of any type
  • Cameras or any other photographic equipment
  • Pens, highlighters, or mechanical or colored pencils
  • Books or references of any kind
  • Compasses, rulers, or protractors
  • Earplugs
  • Personal calculators except as approved by a College Board accommodation
  • Food, beverages, or tobacco products
  • Headsets, earphones or earbuds of any kind
  • Papers of any kind, including scratch paper

NOTE: Exceptions apply if a test taker has received a prior College Board approved accommodation.

Section 4. Prohibited Behaviors

You may not engage in the prohibited behaviors set forth below:

  • Attempt to cheat or otherwise obtain an unfair advantage on the exam.
  • Remove or attempt to remove test questions or responses or any notes from the room where you are testing, including through memorization.
  • Attempt to improperly access the test center, the test (or any part of the test) or an answer key.
  • Discuss or share information about the test including questions, answers, identifying information about the version or form of a test, or any other information that might compromise the security of the test at any time (including before the test, during the test, during breaks, or after the test).
  • Communicate with other test takers or other individuals who are not proctors or test center authorized staff during testing.
  • Allow anyone to see the test questions or your answers or attempt to see or copy other's test questions or answers.
  • Consult notes, other people, electronic devices, textbooks, or any other resources during the test or during breaks.
  • Use or access any prohibited items (per Section 3 above) during the test, including during any breaks.
  • Use a calculator on any test section other than the embedded calculator for exams where one is available unless approved by College Board as an accommodation.
  • Deliberately attempt to and/or take the test for someone else or attempt to have someone else impersonate you to take the test.
  • Deliberately create fake or multiple College Board student accounts or providing false information to College Board.
  • If testing at a test center, fail to follow test center rules or policies.
  • If testing at a test center, leave the room where you are testing without permission (of the test center staff) and prior to the conclusion of all sections of the test.
  • If testing with remote proctoring, turn off your camera or move out of the camera's view, including during breaks.

Section 5. Privacy

  • Privacy Policies. College Board recognizes the importance of protecting your privacy. Our privacy policies located at collegeboard.org/privacy-center ("Privacy Policies") are part of these Terms and Conditions. You consent to College Board collection, use, and disclosure of your personally identifiable information described in the Privacy Policies and in these Terms and Conditions. You are required to review the Privacy Policies located at collegeboard.org/privacy-center prior to each test administration.
  • College Board uses the information you provide during testing and registration to enable you to take the CLEP exam, investigate potential test security incidents, protect and enhance test security, improve the exam, provide customer service, conduct research and validity studies, and for other legitimate interests. Your information (including, without limitation, your scores and/or personally identifiable information) may be reported to the state in which you live, the state in which you sit for a CLEP exam, or the state of the institution to which you send your scores and/or their agents and representatives for educational, diagnostic, reporting or related purposes.
  • If you register for the CLEP exam using funding from either DANTES, your school, or another entity, then your scores and your personally identifiable information may also be reported to the party funding your exam fees. If the institution to which you send your scores partners with other educational organizations, your scores and/or personally identifiable information may be shared with those specific educational organizations. To determine whether your scores will be shared with any of these educational organizations, please consult your school.
  • When you register to take the exam via remote proctoring, College Board will provide your registration information to the proctoring services provider, Verificient, for the limited purpose of providing remote proctoring services through their platform, Proctortrack. The information you provide directly to Verificient is governed by the Proctortrack privacy policy available at www.proctortrack.com/privacy-policy/. Verificient will provide College Board and ETS with personally identifiable information from your testing session, including video and screen recordings, to investigate potential test security incidents and improve exam security. Recordings will be stored by College Board for 6 months or until the resolution of any test security or legal investigation and enforcement after which time they will be securely destroyed.
  • You provide your consent for test centers, remote proctoring companies, or their designees, to use methods to capture images, video, or audio to help ensure test security. Test centers may provide College Board and ETS with personally identifiable information from your testing session, including video and screen recordings, to investigate potential test security incidents and improve exam security. Such recordings will be stored by College Board for 6 months or until the resolution of any test security or legal investigation and enforcement after which time they will be securely destroyed.

Section 6. Score Cancellation and Disciplinary Measures

  1. Score Cancellation and Disciplinary Measures. In the event that College Board or its subcontractor, including, without limitation, ETS, determines, in its sole discretion, that you violated these Terms and Conditions, we may, in our sole discretion, take one or more of the following measures: deny you entry to a test administration, dismiss you from the test, decline to score your test, cancel your scores, ban you from taking future College Board assessments (including, without limitation, the Advanced Placement exams, the SAT, or another CLEP exam), and/or share information with others as set forth in Section 6d below.

    CAUTION! THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHEATING ON A CLEP EXAM ARE SEVERE.
     
  2. Testing Irregularities. We may cancel your scores if we determine, in our sole discretion, that any testing irregularity occurred (collectively, "Testing Irregularities"). Examples of Testing Irregularities include problems, irregular circumstances, or events associated with the administration of a test, and may affect one test taker or groups of test takers. Such problems include, without limitation, administrative errors (e.g., using accommodations not approved by College Board or defective equipment), network outages, system errors, evidence of possible preknowledge of secure test content, and disruptions of test administrations caused by events such as natural disasters, epidemics, wars, riots, civil disturbances, or other emergencies. When Testing Irregularities occur, we may cancel individual registrations, decline to score all or part of the test, or cancel scores. We may do this regardless of whether or not you caused the Testing Irregularities, benefited from them, or violated these Terms and Conditions. We may, in our sole discretion, give you a refund but we are not required to do so.
  3. Test Taker Reporting Misconduct or Suspicious Behavior. You may confidentially report any suspected violation of CLEP Terms and Conditions, or any suspicion concerning the security of a CLEP test administration, by immediately contacting ETS by phone at 900-353-8570, or by emailing us at [email protected].
  4. College Board Sharing Information with Third Parties. We may share the results of test security investigations, with third parties, including with your school, any score recipient, college, higher education institution or agency, scholarship organization, admissions office, potential score recipient, government agency in the United States or abroad, parents, legal guardians, or law enforcement. College Board may also share such information with third parties that have a legitimate reason for knowing the information or who may be able to assist College Board in its investigation or who may be conducting their own investigation. College Board may respond to inquiries from any institution to which you submitted a score. If you publicize any review, investigation or decision of College Board, College Board may make any and all details of such matter public.

Section 7. Miscellaneous

  1. You will be given the option to cancel your score before you conclude your test in the testing software. If you cancel your score, it will not be reported to the institution(s) you selected. Scores cannot be canceled once students have seen their instant score reports. Canceled scores cannot be reinstated, and canceled exams cannot be retaken for three months.
  2. In the event of a test security related concern, public health threat, including without limitation an epidemic or pandemic, natural disaster, terrorist act, civil unrest, or other unexpected events or circumstances, a test center or remote proctor may cancel testing for all or a specific group of test takers. To the extent feasible, you will be notified in advance and alternative test dates will be communicated to you. The test center may communicate test cancellations and, when feasible, may schedule alternate test dates for affected test takers.
  3. To ensure the integrity of the CLEP exam, for security reasons, or for other reasons in our sole discretion, College Board reserves the right to bar any individual or group of individuals from registering for and/or taking any College Board assessment.
  4. If College Board, test centers or remote proctoring companies become aware that you or someone else may be in imminent danger, including a determination based on the content of any of your answers, we reserve the right to contact the appropriate individuals or agencies, including your parents, guardians, high school, college, university, educational institution, or law enforcement agencies. We might also provide the relevant content, along with any personal information, to those contacted.
  5. College Board occasionally pretests new questions to determine if they should be included in a future CLEP exam. These questions may appear in any of the test sections, and testing time will be appropriately extended so you have time to answer them. They will not be included in computing your scores. Scored test items (questions) and entire test forms may be used in more than one test administration.
  6. After the CLEP exam, we may send you an email invitation requesting you to participate in a test experience survey or to answer sample test questions. If you provide us with an email address, you may receive an invitation via email. Participation is optional and will not affect your scores.
  7. College Board takes steps to ensure that registration records are properly handled and processed, and that exams are properly scored. In the unlikely event of a problem with registration materials, answers or score reports, or with scoring the test, or score reporting, College Board will correct the error, if possible, and may schedule a makeup test for impacted test takers or provide a refund of the test fee. These are your sole remedies in relation to such issues. College Board has sole discretion in determining whether to score lost answer sheets that are eventually recovered.
  8. All personal property brought into a l test center, such as purses, bags, backpacks, mobile phones, and calculators and other electronic devices, may be subject to search at the discretion of the test center. Searches may include the use of tools, such as metal detecting wands used on individuals and personal property or other methods, that detect prohibited devices and/or their use. Test center may confiscate and retain for a reasonable period of time any personal property suspected of having been used, or capable of being used, in violation of our test security and fairness policies, for further investigation.
  9. College Board and the test center will not be responsible for personal property, including prohibited items, brought to the test center on test day that becomes lost, stolen, or damaged.
  10. Each College Board contractor is a third-party beneficiary and is entitled to the rights and benefits under this Agreement.
  11. College Board is not responsible for providing an internet connection or for internet service interruptions or errors outside of College Board's control, such as data transmission errors on the public internet.
  12. College Board is not responsible for your failure to follow instructions relating to the taking the CLEP exam.

Section 8. Policies and Requirements

  1. All College Board policies and requirements (i) referenced in these Terms and Conditions and (ii) relating to registering for the CLEP exam located at https://clep.collegeboard.org/register, taking the test located at https://clep.collegeboard.org/earn-college-credit/taking-the-test, and scores located at https://clep.collegeboard.org/earn-college-credit/your-score, are part of these Terms and Conditions.
  2. College Board may update its policies and requirements referenced in Section 8a above from time to time and they are subject to change up to one week prior to your test date and any subsequent test dates you register for. You are required to review these prior to each test administration.

Section 9. Intellectual Property Rights

  1. All College Board tests, test-related documents and materials, and test preparation materials ("Test Content") are copyrighted works owned by College Board and protected by the laws of the United States and other countries.
  2. All software, web pages, algorithms, processes, and technologies, including, without limitation, the applications through which you access and take the CLEP exam, you provide your answers, and the test is proctored, but excluding your device, your internet service provider (ISP) and the public internet (collectively, the "Test Platform") belongs to College Board and its licensors.
  3. You shall not screenshot or attempt to make any image, copy, or download Test Content or the Test Platform. You shall not attempt to decompile, reverse engineer, or dissemble the Test Platform.
  4. College Board owns all answers and answer documents you submit, and these may be used by College Board for any purpose, subject to the Privacy Policies located at collegeboard.org/privacy-center, and these Terms and Conditions.

Section 10. Arbitration of Disputes and Class Action Waiver

  1. Any dispute regarding the enforceability of these arbitration provisions, or whether a dispute is subject to these arbitration provisions, shall be resolved by the arbitrator.
  2. All disputes between you and College Board and/or any or all of its contractors that relate in any way to registering for, participating in, or taking CLEP exam(s), but excluding all claims that a party violated the intellectual property rights of the other party, shall exclusively be resolved by a single arbitrator through binding, individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules in effect at the time a request for arbitration is filed with the AAA. Copies of the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules are located at adr.org.
  3. This arbitration will be conducted as a documents-only arbitration (i.e., there will be no in-person or telephone hearing) unless otherwise agreed by the parties or required by the arbitrator. Should the parties agree to or the arbitrator require proceedings, such proceedings should be conducted at a location which is reasonably convenient to both parties with due consideration of their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If the parties are unable to agree on a location, the parties agree that the proceedings will be conducted via a video or telephonic call or, in the event that face-to-face proceedings are agreed to by the parties or required by the arbitrator, at a location that is reasonably convenient to both parties in accordance with the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules.
  4. The parties agree that the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. governs this provision, and it is the intent of the parties that the FAA shall preempt all State laws to the fullest extent permitted by law.
  5. No arbitration may be maintained as a class or collective action, and the arbitrator shall not have the authority to combine or aggregate the disputes of more than 1 individual, conduct any class or collective proceeding, make any class or collective award, or make an award to any person or entity not a party to the arbitration, without the express written consent of College Board.
  6. By agreeing to arbitration in accordance with this section, you are waiving your right to have your dispute heard by a judge or jury except as set forth below.
  7. To commence arbitration, you must pay the AAA filing fee (unless AAA agrees to waive the fee for you) and follow the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. The filing fee will be reimbursed by College Board if you prevail in arbitration. Each party will be responsible for its own attorney’s fees and expenses. College Board generally pays the arbitrator's compensation but the arbitrator may require you to pay those fees if the arbitrator determines that your claim was filed for purposes of harassment or is patently frivolous, as per the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules.

Section 11. Governing Law, Venue and Waiver of Jury Trial

This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the state of New York without regard to choice or conflict of law principles. All disputes arising from or related to this Agreement that are not subject to arbitration under Section 10 shall be resolved exclusively in the state and federal courts located in New York County, New York State and each party to this Agreement irrevocably consents to the jurisdiction of such courts. Each Party expressly waives any right to a jury trial in any lawsuit arising from or related to this Agreement.

Section 12. Limitation of Liability

EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT FINALLY DETERMINED TO BE PROHIBITED BY LAW, COLLEGE BOARD AND ITS AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU OR ANYONE CLAIMING BY OR THROUGH YOU OR ON YOUR BEHALF, FOR ANY CLAIMS, LOSSES, COSTS, OR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RESULTING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO COLLEGE BOARD, OR ANY TEST ADMINISTRATION BY COLLEGE BOARD, FROM ANY CAUSE, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE TEST REGISTRATION FEES YOU PAID TO COLLEGE BOARD OR $100.00, WHICHEVER IS GREATER. IN ADDITION, COLLEGE BOARD AND ITS AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE IN ANY EVENT FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR SPECIAL DAMAGES.

Section 13. Disclaimer of Warranties

COLLEGE BOARD MAKES NO WARRANTIES REGARDING THE CLEP EXAM, TEST CONTENT, OR TEST PLATFORM INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION A WARRANTY THAT THE TESTING EXPERIENCE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. YOU ACCEPT THE CLEP EXAM, TEST CONTENT, AND TEST PLATFORM AS IS.

Section 14. Severability

If any provision or part of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will nevertheless continue in full force and effect without being impaired or invalidated in any way and to the extent possible, the invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provision shall be modified so that it is valid, legal, and enforceable and, to the fullest extent, reflects the intention of the parties.

Section 15. Restricted Registrations

College Board, along with our service providers outside of the U.S., is subject to U.S. economic sanctions, laws, and regulations and is prohibited from providing testing services to, or accepting registrations from, persons residing in certain areas or designated by the U.S. government as Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (collectively, "Sanctioned Persons"), unless specifically licensed or otherwise authorized by the U.S. government. If a Sanctioned Person attempts to register despite U.S. sanctions that prohibit College Board from doing business with such Sanctioned Person, College Board or a U.S. financial institution may block the registration or payments submitted by or for such Sanctioned Persons. If payment is not blocked, College Board is required to cancel the registration and may not be able to refund the payment. Please contact CLEP Customer Service at 800-257-9558 (+1-212-237-1331 internationally) or the website of the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to obtain the current list of sanctioned programs and Sanctioned Persons.

Section 16. Accessibility of These Terms and Conditions

If you have difficulty accessing these Terms and Conditions, including our policies and requirements, please contact CLEP Customer Service at 800-257-9558 (+1-212-237-1331 internationally) or https://clep.collegeboard.org/help-for-students in advance of registering or taking the CLEP exam. We will be happy to provide these Terms and Conditions in an alternative format or assist you in some other manner as reasonably necessary to enable you to access these Terms and Conditions.

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