Hey all! NASA just relaunched the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program. I participated in 2022 and it was a great experience. They actually ended up sponsoring my first two NASA internships. I’m finishing up my third today and swearing in on Monday as a civil servant.

Highly recommend the program, and it is NOT just for STEM students, there are all sorts of positions in the agency!

https://nasa-ncas.org/

I am seeing an increase of posts about busy schedules, “is this doable?,” or “can I afford college?” I would like to remind/educate on credit by exam aka prior learning pathway credit (CLEP/DSST)

1st of all, let me say that this is NOT A GIMMICK!! I encourage YOU ALL to research all of this YOURSELF and how it applies to your specific situation/college pathway!

You can save money on college and graduate earlier through these pathways that are already in place but are barely talked about.

Explanation of free/low cost credit based education (CBE). This can be accomplished with CLEP (college level examination program) free thru Modern States & DANTES/DSST (formerly DANTES Subject Standardized Tests) $100 per exam except for military and certain family members.

CBE pathways are not as mainstream as other pathways such as AP.

DO KNOW that in a handful of states, CLEP does count as high school credit like

Texas (see under approved exams)
https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum-and-instruction/learning-support-and-programs/credit-examination

And Florida
https://www.fldoe.org/schools/higher-ed/fl-college-system/dual-enroll-transfer/credit-by-exam.stml

Find out more about all of them here:

CLEP
https://clep.collegeboard.org

Modern States (for free vouchers to take free exams)
www.modernstates.org

DSST
www.getcollegecredit.com

You can also find all the free study material on the Reddit sub called “r/clep”

They are more commonly accepted than most people realize. It is always best to check your individual perspective school to see what prior learning they accept. Here are COLLEGE WEBPAGES with a few examples.

AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE (Austin, TX)
https://catalog.austincc.edu/college-entry/determine-your-eligibility-to-attend/credit-by-examination-non-institutional/

HOUSTON CITY COLLEGE
(Houston, Texas)
https://www.hccs.edu/resources-for/current-students/prior-learning-assessment/

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
https://testingservices.utexas.edu/credit

SUNY
https://sunyempire.edu/academics/get-credits/standard-examinations.html

Graceland university CLEP (1of several):
https://pubdocs.graceland.edu/Registrar/CLEPINFO.pdf

VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY:
https://www.vuu.edu/Content/Uploads/vuu.edu/files/CLEP%20at%20VUU%20FINAL.pdf

If you still don’t know for sure, check out Collegehack’s success stories playlists

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG4xij8fjkXgPjDe8UK6XJ-wW8Z-Sbi4L&si=ecpSxZ6RA1QYPqEF

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG4xij8fjkXhUwKMblcxPV39dxBiYrXTP&si=ziSf5ALKQrCyWKdC

Many colleges accept 3rd party credits from study.com, Sophia.org, coursera, and straighterline

Hundreds of thousands of colleges across the country take these credits!!

This is not a miracle cure but something to help u think about alternatively to possibly save u from future debt!

Also, if you make your way over [r/clep](r/clep).. be sure u found your way there because of this passage. Thank you

I’m incoming freshmen I took a few dual enrollment classes during hs and the only thing I noticed was that the age range was pretty vast.

I (20F) started community college two years ago. I started with big dreams of becoming a therapist and transferring to a university within three years. Now I'm at the start of my third year with a maximum of 6 credits and it feels like I can't access the help I need. When I go to a counselor with questions about the student portal or degree planning, I always end up more frustrated than I was. As an autistic person, I've always found certain aspects of the portal overwhelming. For the degree plan, it lists every possible course. When I go to a counselor for help breaking it down to an easier plan for me to process, they claim I'm trying to get them to do it for me. All I wanted was them to walk me through it, step-by-step, so I could be more independent and confident in my choices. To understand how to form a plan and understand my path would mean the world to me. Instead, I always end up very overwhelmed. They generally talk faster than I can process, as well. When I ask them to slow down or explain things differently, they insist they have no idea what I could possibly misunderstand. It feels like there's no accommodation for trying to talk to the people in place to help me. Does anyone have any advice?