Nontraditional College Credit

Nontraditional College Credit

Credit for Life Experience

Students have the opportunity to earn college credit through prior learning or life experience assemssment.  Students earn credits through this means by completing an in-depth portfolio of their prior learning or life experiences (both professional and personal), which is evaluated by a Mercyhurst professor to determine whether those experiences are relevant enough to merit college credit.

Any student who is interested in pursuing Credit for Life Experience (CLE) must complete the first part of the Credit for Life Experience Application and obtain the appropriate signatures.  When the student submits their portfolio, the sponsoring faculty member must complete the rest of the form regardless of the outcome.

Examination Credit

  • Advanced Placement (AP) Credit: Earned from high school prior to entering Mercyhurst University: for course equivalency and credit to be awarded, students must earn a score of 4 or above on the AP Exam.
  • International Baccalaureate (IB) Examinations: For course equivalency and credit to be awarded students must earn a score of 5 or above on the standard exam and a score of 4 or above on the higher-level exam.
  • Challenge Exams: (ordinarily provided by the Academic Department)
  • College Level Examination Program (CLEP): For course equivalency and credit to be awarded, a minimum score equivalent to a “C” as determined by the Academic Department is required to award credit for a CLEP exam.

CLEP Notes:

  • AP, CLEP or a comprehensive course examination may not be used by a student to challenge a grade in a course taken at Mercyhurst University.
  • Only by repeating the course may a student remediate a grade.
  • Ordinarily, credit received through CLEP or AP is applied to satisfy REACH or elective requirements.
  • All credit received through proficiency exams appear on the student transcript as PASS. Failure will not be recorded on the transcript.
  • Credits will be awarded based on the American Council on Education’s Semester Hour recommendations for each individual CLEP test, to a maximum of 6 credits per test.

Current CLEP exams accepted by the University are:

CLEP Exam Course   Course Title Cred Min Score
Introductory Business Law BADM 310 Business Law I 3.00 50
Macroeconomics ECON 105 Macroeconomics 3.00 56
Intro Educational Psychology EDEC 302 Educational Psychology 3.00 50
College Composition ENG 110 Composition 3.00 50
College Comp Modular ENG 120 Research and Writing 3.00 50
French Language I FREN 102 Intro. to French II 3.00 50
French Language II FREN 204 Intermediate French II 6.00 62
History of the U.S. I HIS 101 U.S. History to 1865 3.00 60
History of the U.S. II HIS 102 U.S. History Since 1865 3.00 50
Western Civilization II 1648 to Present HIS 146 6 European History Since Renaissance 3.00 50
West Civilization I HIS 170 World History I: Agriculture to Zheng He 3.00 50
College Algebra MATH 108 Mathematical Problem Solving 3.00 50
College Math MATH 108 Mathematical Problem Solving 3.00 50
Calculus Exam MATH 170 Calculus I 4.00 55
Principles of Management MGMT 120 Principles of Management 3.00 50
Information Systems and Computer Applications MIS 110 Advanced Computer Applications 3.00 50
Principles of Marketing MKTG 162 Principles of Integrated Marketing 3.00 56
American Government POLI 100 American Government 3.00 63
Introductory Sociology SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology 3.00 50
Human Growth and Development SOC 108 Human Growth and Development 3.00 50
Spanish Language, Level I SPAN 102 Introduction to Spanish II 3.00 50
Spanish Language SPAN 204 Intermediate Spanish II 6.00 66
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature THUM 999 Humanities / Literature 3.00 50
Biology Exam TSCI 998 Natural Science and Lab 4.00 50

 

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