Chapter 5

CREDIT BY EXAMINATION

(Except for the Advanced Placement Program of the College Entrance Examination Board)

Section 1. General Regulations

A. Regularly admitted and currently registered students may take examinations described in this section in courses offered by the University to gain credit:

  1. For independent study.
  2. For work completed with private teachers.
  3. For work completed in unaccredited institutions if a formal examination is deemed necessary by the chairperson of the concerned department(s). Provision for validation without an examination is included in Volume Four, Part III, Chapter 1, Section 6, Acceptance of Transfer Credit.

B. No one may take a credit examination for a course in which he or she has received credit.

C. All credits secured by examination shall be counted as extension credit and shall be included in the 90 extension credit maximum allowed toward the bachelor's degree. No credit shall be allowed by examination with a grade less than 2.

D. No student shall receive credit by examination for a course for which the student would not be eligible to receive credit if the course were taken in residence.

E. No student shall be permitted to repeat any examination for credit.

F. No student shall receive credit by examination for lower-division courses in the student's native language.

G. Credit by examination is not acceptable toward an advanced degree in the Graduate School.

H. The procedure for authorizing, formulating, and conducting credit by examination shall be as follows:

  1. A student who wishes to qualify for credit by examination shall apply to the Registrar for a certificate of eligibility. After this certificate has been approved and signed by the Registrar, the student shall present it for signed approval to an instructor responsible for the course in which the examination is to be taken, to the chairperson of the department concerned, and/or to the dean of the college or school concerned. If such approvals are granted, the student shall then pay the established fee per course to be gained by examination.
  2. The department or school shall prepare appropriate examinations and transmit them to the Registrar. The department or school shall submit with each examination any necessary list of authorized supplementary material. Each such list shall be issued to the examination proctors and to the student taking the examination.
  3. The chairperson of the department or dean of the school or college shall approve the examination. In general, examinations shall be of sufficient scope to occupy the qualified student a minimum of three hours and a maximum of four hours in a test for a three-, four-, or five-credit courses; and a minimum of two and a maximum of three hours in a test for a one- or two- credit course.
  4. The Registrar shall designate a time in each quarter during which all approved examinations shall be given. Such examinations shall be supervised by the Educational Assessment Center.
  5. No student shall be permitted to take more than two examinations in three-, four-, or five-credit courses, or more than three examinations in one- or two-credit courses in one day. Should the student plan to take more examinations in that quarter, an additional day may be permitted and arrangements will be made with the Educational Assessment Center.
  6. Completed examinations shall be transmitted to the proper college, school or department for grading. Grade reports signed by the instructor and chairperson or dean involved shall be sent to the Registrar for recording.
  7. Nothing in this section shall apply to the allowance of credit under the Advanced Placement Program of the College Entrance Examination Board, separate rules for which follow in Chapter 6.*

    * For information on a 1970-73 trial of the College Level Examination Program, call Dr. Thomas Hodgson, Evaluative and Counseling Services.

I. Credit granted through examination is not included in the student's cumulative grade-point average.

S-B 93, May 1964; S-B 116, April 1971; S-B 127, December 14, 1976: all with Presidential approval; BR, February 1971; AI, March 1966; AI, March 1972