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Test Administration Policies

General Information

Ferris State University offers CLEP examinations to those students interested in earning college credit for what they know. We are a military-friendly testing center.

CLEP examinations are available by appointment on Monday - Friday in the Office of Institutional Research and Testing in the CSS Building, Suite 313.

Individuals desiring to take CLEP examinations at Ferris State University must schedule a testing appointment. CLEP testing appointments are scheduled either for 10:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. based on room and staff availability. Appointment requests may be made by one of the following methods.

  1. Schedule Your Appointment Online
  2. Telephone at 800 4-FERRIS, extension 3628 (toll free), 231 591-3628 (off campus), or extension 3628 (on campus)

Test Fee and Picture Identification

  • Test Fee: CLEP's portion of the fee ($93, subject to change every July 1) must be paid when registering for the test in the examinee's CLEP account. Ferris charges a $25 administrative fee. This is paid at the Student Service Center located on the 1st floor of the Timme Center for Student Services. 
  • Picture IDs: Before testing begins, the student will be asked to show a valid, current ID that includes your photograph and signature. CLEP insists that this must be a driver's license, state ID, passport or military ID. School IDs are no longer acceptable.

Please note electronic devices, books, papers, and notes are not allowed in the testing room. Examinees will be provided with scratch paper which will be collected at the end of the testing period. An online calculator is provided for those tests which allow students to use a calculator.

CLEP Scoring

CLEP exams are scored without a penalty for incorrect guessing. The raw score -- the number of correct responses -- is translated into a scaled score. The scaled scores for CLEP exams are reported in a range from 20 to 80. At Ferris, candidates taking CLEP exams must score a 50 or higher to earn credit (40 or higher for the foreign language exams).

Retest Policy

Students who do not obtain a passing score on a CLEP exam are eligible to retake that exam after a three-month waiting period has expired.

Credit Policy

Ferris State University administers 30 of the national CLEP examinations to provide incoming students with the possibility of earning credit in academic areas commonly studied by college freshmen. Credit is awarded to those students who obtain a scaled score of 50 or higher as published by the College Board. Credit granted on the basis of CLEP examinations is entered on a student's record without a grade and is not included in the computation of the Ferris grade point average or graduation honors.

If a student has been previously enrolled in a course or its equivalent at an accredited college or university (including Ferris), the student may not take a CLEP exam for that course. Once CLEP credit for a given course has been awarded, a student may not subsequently enroll in that course and receive a grade. A student may not take a CLEP test for a class in which they are currently enrolled. Please note that the Social Sciences History CLEP exam covers a wide range of subjects so please check the list and contact the Testing Office before registering and paying for that exam to make sure you are eligible to take it.