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College Credit by Exam

Nazareth often accepts college credit from AP, IB, CLEP, and DSST exams, depending on how you do on the exam, as well as from college courses taken during high school. The following exams and programs are listed below: AP, CLEP, DSST, Excelsior, IB, NLN, NYU Foreign Language, and PLA.

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Advanced Placement (AP)

Transfer credit for advanced placement may be awarded to new students who have completed advanced placement courses in secondary school and taken the appropriate College Entrance Examination Board AP exam. Credits are subject to guidelines established by Nazareth's academic departments.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

Nazareth participates in the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) of the College Entrance Examination Board. Students can earn credits by achieving satisfactory scores on the general and subject examinations. For English Composition credit, the English Composition with Essay exam is required. Credit may be earned for up to 12 hours in any department and/or a total of 30 hours.

Dantes Subject Standardized Tests (DSST)

DSSTs are credit by examination tests designed to allow a student to demonstrate proficiency in an area of study normally taught at a college or university. These tests are frequently used in conjunction with CLEP.

Excelsior College

This program is sponsored and administered by the New York State Education Department. Students who earn satisfactory scores on these exams will be given college credit, as determined by the Nazareth department chairperson. These examinations are given in a variety of subjects at locations throughout New York State. Students must receive prior approval from the academic advisor, the chairperson of the department in which the exam is offered, and the Transfer Credit Evaluator before registering for Excelsior College Examinations.

Please visit the Excelsior College Examinations website for more information.

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International Baccalaureate (IB)

Nazareth recognizes the International Baccalaureate (IB) Examination program and awards up to 30 credits, total,  for Higher Level subject exams graded 5 or better. Credits earned are subject to guidelines established by Nazareth's academic departments.

NYU Foreign Language Proficiency

New York University’s (NYU) School of Continuing and Professional Studies offers proficiency testing in more than 50 languages. Tests are given by appointment on the NYU campus or other locations in the United States and abroad. Students can take the 12-point exam and earn 6 credits in a modern foreign language. Students must receive prior approval from the academic advisor and the Transfer Credit Evaluator before registering for NYU Foreign Language Proficiency Exams.

Please visit the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies website for more information.

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Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)

Credit may be awarded for verifiable college-level learning acquired through significant life or work experiences – for example, on-the-job experience, volunteer service, conferences, workshops, military and in-service training. In order to determine whether or not credit should be awarded, Nazareth University has partnered with the Learning Counts Program through the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). Learning Counts is a comprehensive one stop prior learning assessment (PLA) resource for adult learners, offering PLA guidance, prior learning portfolio development courses, and portfolio assessment services. Nazareth University will accept the credit recommendations of Learning Counts/CAEL transcribed on an ACE transcript as it would for other types of transfer credit. Courses must be in reasonable conformity with the curriculum of Nazareth University, and credit will not be given in cases where credits have already been earned for similar coursework. 

To be eligible to receive credit, you must:

• Be a matriculated student at Nazareth University;
• Be in good standing;
• Have demonstrated competency in written English;
• Have access to a computer with high-speed capability and be a good candidate for online learning;
• Complete CAEL 100, a portfolio orientation course, which will result in three elective credits if completed successfully (tuition for the CAEL 100 course is $500);
• Complete a portfolio and submit it to CAEL for evaluation. Fees for portfolio evaluation are $250 per portfolio. Students may request up to 12 credits per portfolio within a single discipline. Credit is not guaranteed.

To learn more about the prior learning assessment process, please consult a Transfer Credit Evaluator in the Academic Advisement Center.

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