CLEP & ACE
Endorsement and score recommendations from the American Council on Education (ACE)
Founded in 1918, the American Council on Education (ACE) is the nation's unifying voice for higher education. ACE serves as a consensus leader on key higher education issues and seeks to influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives. Within ACE, the Center for Lifelong Learning (CLLL) is the nation's trusted leader for evaluating education and training attained outside the classroom. Since 1942, organizations have relied on CLLL to document the training and education acquired by adult students outside of colleges and universities.
ACE has conducted periodic reviews of the CLEP program-in September 1983, December 1990, March 1996, and most recently, August 2002. The ACE team consisted of twelve subject matter experts, from a variety of disciplines, and psychometricians who interviewed CLEP's content and statistical staff. They reviewed detailed reports and analyses across the spectrum of technical and exam content areas. In addition, they examined all publications and general operating procedures. The teams concluded that CLEP's procedures, managerial controls, policies, and the content validity and technical adequacy of the examinations meet or exceed ACE standards.
ACE makes the following credit-granting recommendations:
- Effective July 1, 2001, ACE recommends a uniform credit-granting score of 50 across all subjects (with the exception of Level 2 French, German, and Spanish), representing the performance of students who earn a grade of C in the corresponding course.
- Effective February 1, 2003, ACE recommends the following scores for Level 2 (four-semester) foreign-language examinations representing the performance of students who earn a grade of C in the corresponding course: 60 for German language, 59 for French language, and 63 for Spanish language.