Getting the Jump on College - gaining credits

Dance Magazine, Jan, 2001 by K.C. Patrick

How to pile up credits without piling up bills

You're going to college and you think you'll be out in four years with a degree. Not necessarily so. Since 1990, studies have shown, a growing number of entering first-year students either drop out or take more than four years to earn a degree. In fact, U.S. News & Worm Report's annual college ranking now uses a six-year graduation pattern for national and liberal arts universities in reporting their standings of degree achievement.

The reasons some students do not cross the degree finish line before they turn 22 are many, not the least of which are financial. Tuition, even at a publicly funded college, is not cheap, and living expenses while attending college continue to rise. Scholarships or other financial aid may run out after four years. (Planning and funding are a little behind the facts.) Then there's transportation, phone calls and trips home, and laundry that used to be done free at home. Independent students must assume their own health care costs and buy their own dancewear. Dancers often take time off for auditions, touting or short-term contract work, so their attendance may be broken--and lengthened. The list goes on and the dollars add up. The bottom line here is that more time spent in college costs more money. The other side of that coin is that the faster you can earn your degree, the more money you will save.

So why not start accumulating units even before you enter the college of your choice? There are several ways to do this.

"Advanced Placement exams," suggests Lea Wolf, now a successful San Francisco Bay Area choreographer. Wolf graduated with a BA from Stanford University in less than four years because she scored high enough on APs to earn college credits. Designed specifically for high school students who wish to earn college credit before enrollment, Advanced Placement examinations in thirteen subject areas are administered by the College Board, the same organization that gives the Scholastic Aptitude Tests that are required for admission to many universities.

Successfully passing portions of the Graduate Record Examination also may be accepted for substantial credit toward a bachelor's degree by many nontraditional degree programs. Acceptance at this level varies from college to college, so be sure to check with your intended program before signing up to take it. The ninety-minute GREs are administered by the Educational Testing Service at various sites across the United States, including a computer-adjustable (the computer increases difficulty with each correct answer) version at many Sylvan Learning Centers nationwide.

There are several other recognized equivalency exams, and you need not take them before you enroll in a college program. CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) and PEP (Proficiency Examination Program) administer exams in seventy-five subject areas that prove equivalent mastery of a subject area as if you had taken the class in a traditional manner. CLEP, ninety-minute multiple-choice tests in thirty subject areas, is administered by the College Entrance Examination Board (College Board). PEP, three- or four-hour tests in more than forty subjects, is given by the American College Testing Program throughout North America and by special arrangement anywhere in the world. It is also offered through New York's Regents External Degree program at Albany, New York. DANTES (Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support) tests are equivalency exams available for military personnel.

At some schools, credit toward graduation may be attained by simply taking and passing the final exam of a course even if you're not enrolled as a student at that school. Large reputable programs are offered through Ohio University in Athens (Course Credit by Examination program), and the Independent Study program through the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

There are, of course, fees for taking all these exams, but most costs are in the $50 to $100 range, not counting travel to a testing center or costs of commercial test preparation or tutoring.

If testing your brains out is not your thing, you can still shave off thousands of dollars from the escalating cost of college tuition in other ways: concurrent enrollment in college and high school; correspondence courses and distance learning courses available on audio- and videotapes, online, television and combinations thereof; credit for foreign academic experience; and credit for life experience learning, which is now awarded through most nontraditional or independent study degree programs.

More than fifteen years in operation, the University of Utah's High School/University Program offers the opportunity for concurrent enrollment, allowing high school students with high GPAs to begin taking some college classes before they graduate. Barbara Hamlin, who chairs the ballet department, says her program accommodates two to ten students at any one time who may earn up to eight credit hours each term. There must be a signed agreement between the University and the student's high school principal for released time. Though a model program, it's not unique. So-called open program community colleges--where no high school diploma is required of "mature students who can profit by the instruction"--often allow pre-graduate applicants to earn lower-division credits. High school students can take classes that fulfill core requirements, such as language, math, history and basic sciences, that are usually fulfilled during the first two years of college. Community college fees are usually low. But even if the tuition cost per unit seems high, remember all those extra living expenses you don't have to pay while you're still at home.