ACE Credit Recommendations
The American Council on Education sets recommendations on the scores needed to earn credit for a course and the semester hours earned for a passing score.
What is the ACE?
Founded in 1918, the American Council on Education (ACE) is a major coordinating body for the nation’s higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents and more than 200 related associations nationwide. The American Council on Education College Credit Recommendation Service (CREDIT®) connects workplace learning with colleges and universities by helping students gain access to academic credit for formal courses and exams taken outside traditional higher education. For more than 30 years, colleges and universities have trusted ACE CREDIT to provide reliable course equivalency information to facilitate their decisions to award academic credit.
ACE has conducted periodic reviews of the CLEP Program. The ACE team of subject matter experts and psychometricians review all CLEP exams as well as detailed reports and analysis across the spectrum of technical and exam content areas. They also interview CLEP test development and statistical staff when necessary. In addition, they examine all publications and general test development and operating procedures. CLEP procedures, managerial controls, policies, and the exams' content validity and technical adequacy meet ACE standards.
ACE Credit Recommendations
Credit-Granting Scores for CLEP Exams
The scores and semester hours that appear in the tables below are the credit-granting scores and semester hours recommended by ACE.
ACE recommends a credit-granting score of 50 for each CLEP exam. This is a scaled score, equivalent to earning a C in the relevant course. The corresponding raw score (number of questions answered correctly) is determined after a panel of college faculty who teach the equivalent course perform a detailed and rigorous review of exam content. The recommended cut scores need to be approved by the test development committee that oversees each CLEP exam.
In addition to determining the recommended credit-granting score of 50, the panel of college faculty also recommend a scaled score that is equivalent to a grade of B. Although ACE hasn't endorsed this B score, it's provided to some schools that print grade equivalents for CLEP exams on student transcripts, or those specialized programs that require a passing score higher than the credit-granting score recommended by ACE.
ACE Recommendations
| Exam Title | Credit-Granting Score | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Accounting | 50 | 3 |
| Information Systems | 50 | 3 |
| Introductory Business Law | 50 | 3 |
| Principles of Management | 50 | 3 |
| Principles of Marketing | 50 | 3 |
| Exam Title | Credit-Granting Score (C-Level) | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| American Literature | 50 | 3 |
| Analyzing and Interpreting Literature | 50 | 3 |
| College Composition | 50 | 6 |
| College Composition Modular | 50 | 3 |
| English Literature | 50 | 3 |
| Humanities | 50 | 3 |
| Exam Title | Credit-Granting Score (C-Level) | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| American Government | 50 | 3 |
| History of the United States I | 50 | 3 |
| History of the United States II | 50 | 3 |
| Human Growth and Development | 50 | 3 |
| Introduction to Educational Psychology | 50 | 3 |
| Introductory Psychology | 50 | 3 |
| Introductory Sociology | 50 | 3 |
| Principles of Macroeconomics | 50 | 3 |
| Principles of Microeconomics | 50 | 3 |
| Social Sciences and History | 50 | 6 |
| Western Civilization I | 50 | 3 |
| Western Civilization II | 50 | 3 |
| Exam Title | Credit-Granting Score (C-Level) | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | 50 | 6 |
| Calculus | 50 | 4 |
| Chemistry | 50 | 6 |
| College Algebra | 50 | 3 |
| College Mathematics | 50 | 6 |
| Natural Sciences | 50 | 6 |
| Precalculus | 50 | 3 |
| Exam Title | Credit-Granting Score (C-Level) | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| French Language Level 1 Proficiency | 50 | 6 |
| French Language Level 2 Proficiency | 59 | 9 |
| German Language Level 1 Proficiency | 50 | 6 |
| German Language Level 2 Proficiency | 60 | 9 |
| Spanish Language Level 1 Proficiency | 50 | 6 |
| Spanish Language Level 2 Proficiency | 63 | 9 |
| Spanish with Writing Level 1 Proficiency | 50 | 6 |
| Spanish with Writing Level 2 Proficiency | 65 | 12 |
| * For CLEP World Languages exams, material taught during first- and second-year college language courses is incorporated into a single exam, covering both Level 1 and Level 2 content. A test taker’s proficiency level is dependent on the test score; ACE recommends different credit-granting scores and amounts of credits at Level 1 and Level 2. | ||