Taking the CLEP Exam
Step 1: Check your institution's CLEP credit granting policy
Policies regarding CLEP credit are different for each institution. Make sure to check with your institution's list of accepted CLEP exams along with the required passing score.
For Suffolk University students, please refer to Suffolk's Credit Granting Policy in regards to which CLEP exams are accepted for credit.
- Suffolk students must complete their final 30 credits at Suffolk University. If you are a Suffolk student with senior status, you are not eligible to receive CLEP credit. Students with senior status who petition for an exception to this policy must submit a Senior Petition Form [PDF] to be approved by the Undergraduate Academic Advising Center (UAAC). If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the UAAC at 617-573-8034.
Step 2: Register through the College Board
Test takers must first register for and purchase their CLEP exam through the College Board. The cost to purchase a CLEP exam through College Board is $95.00.
After you have purchased your CLEP exam, the College Board will provide you with a ticket registration number. Once you have received this number, you can now move onto the next step and request to reserve a seat through Suffolk University's CLEP testing center.
Please remember to print your CLEP registration ticket, as you will need to bring it with you on the day of your exam.
Step 3: Reserve your seat at Suffolk's CLEP test center
Once you have successfully purchased your CLEP exam through the College Board and received your registration ticket number, you can now begin the process of reserving your CLEP exam seat at Suffolk University's CLEP test center. We require both a registration form to be handed into us in addition to a $30.00 non-refundable/non-transferable CLEP test center fee for Suffolk Students and $40.00 non-refundable/non-transferable CLEP test center fee for non-Suffolk students. Please find information on each below:
- Registration Form: You can obtain a registration form by coming to the Division of Student Success, located on the 9th Floor of 73 Tremont Street Boston, MA 02108. If you are unable to come to Suffolk University to obtain the registration form, you can either call us at 617-573-8034, or request one by emailing us. Please be sure to include in your email your name, ticket registration number, CLEP exam you will be taking, and the desired date/time you want to request. View our CLEP exam dates and times here.
- Test Center Fee: Suffolk's CLEP test center requires either a $30.00 or $40.00 test center fee per exam. Payment can be made with either a credit card, check or money order made out to Suffolk University. Students may take more than one CLEP exam per day, but please note that the $30.00 or $40.00 test center fee is per exam. The test center fee is both non-refundable and non-transferable. This means that if you decide to no longer take the CLEP exam at Suffolk University, you will not be refunded your test center fee. In addition, if you decide to reschedule to a different date and/or time, your test center fee will not be transferred over, and you will be required to submit a new test center fee.
Please take into consideration that Suffolk’s CLEP test center has a limited amount of seats available. Seats are on a first-come, first-served basis. CLEP exam seats can only be reserved once both the registration form and test center fee are handed in. When both the registration form and test center fee are handed in, we will verify that there are still available seats to take the CLEP exam on the requested date/time. If there is still availability, we will then go ahead and reserve your seat and send you a confirmation email. Your seat to take the CLEP exam is not official until you receive an email confirmation from us.
Other Important Information for CLEP Test Takers
- Scoring: An unofficial score report can be printed out upon request prior to taking your exam with the exception of the College Composition exam. The College Board provides a timeline for the scoring of the College Composition essay portion.
After tests are completed, all scoring information is submitted to the College Board. For scoring information, please contact them at 800-257-9558.
The waiting period to retake a CLEP exam is three months. - Parking: Suffolk University does not provide parking for CLEP test takers. Here is a list of parking facilities located nearby Suffolk University.
- Information for Test Takers: The College Board has put together an extensive document that includes CLEP Information for Test Takers. This document outlines several different topics such as the descriptions for each CLEP exam, CLEP study material, accommodations for students with disabilities, and more.