[stozzo88]

Hey all,

I am looking for advice regarding how to obtain the last few credits to satisfy PA’s requirement of 150. I only need 7 credits and they do not have to be in accounting. I’ve looked at LSU online which run about $1000 per 3 credit class. I’ve read a little about CLEPs. How do these work? Does one need to be enrolled at a university to take these? I’m sill waiting on a response from someone with the state regarding PA’s limitations but it seems this is the most cost efficient way.

FAR- 1-18-2016- 82
BEC- 2-22-2016- 81
REG- 4-11-2016- 84
AUD- 5-17-2016- 86

[nadroj]

I think a local community college is the most cost effective and reliable way to gain additional non-accounting college credits. It's hard to imagine a state board not recognizing general college credit hours from an in-state school. Community college classes are usually reasonably priced and offered at times convenient for working adults. Finally, it should be easy to find something interesting or useful, so you're not just checking a box.

There may be less expensive options but if you go cheap, be sure your state board of accounting will accept those credits. Otherwise you're out both the time and money.

[Texan_176]

I second community college.

I did all of my non-accounting required hours in CC. The cost in 2013-14 was $230 per 3 hour class. That was a STEAL.

The same course in a public 4 year university was $2200 while it was $3500 in a private university in my area.

Oh, and to tell you the truth the instructors in the CC were way more knowledgeable than those in pure academia because they were people who had day jobs in industry. The students in CC were also people who had full time day jobs so they were very serious about the classwork. The thinking that CC is just high school + or college-lite is completely false in my experience.

BEC 11/29/14 77 (Roger)
AUD 2/23/15 60 (Roger) 4/13/2015 83 (Roger & Ninja MCQ)
REG 5/30/2015 66 (Roger & Ninja MCQ(7 hours only)) 8/23/2015 78 (Roger & Ninja MCQ)
FAR 11/23/2015 60 (Roger & NINJA MCQ) 2/24/2016 74 (Roger & NINJA MCQ) 5/25/2016 83 (Roger+Roger CRAM & NINJA MCQ/NOTES)
Texas Ethics Exam 92%

Licensed TX CPA Aug 2016

[stozzo88]

Thanks for the input. Well, per the accountancy board in my state, CLEPs are accepted as long as they are on a transcript from an accredited college or university. Also there is no limit. I wish the tuition for the community colleges around me were as wallet friendly as your experiences. I am still looking at ~$1,200 for the community colleges close to me.

FAR- 1-18-2016- 82
BEC- 2-22-2016- 81
REG- 4-11-2016- 84
AUD- 5-17-2016- 86

[Anonymous]

Since your state doesn't limit CLEPs, they are definitely a great option for you! 🙂 I've posted a lot of info on here about them, cause I used them extensively (CLEP and DSST combined was around ~60 of my 150 credits – used for my degree as well as for additional credits), and I'd love to post all about them again, but I'm tight on time right now, so I'll just link to a recent thread where I posted info:
https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/fastest-way-to-get-22-credit-hours
About 3/4 of the way through that thread, I have a way-too-huge post with lots of the info. Cost-info briefly, to do them TESU (which is the easiest way I know of, unless your alma mater is very CLEP-friendly), it's $300 to transfer up to 60 credits into TESU, then the $100 per exam (which is generally 3 credits each exam), and about $25 for study materials for each. So, 2 or 3 exams, you're talking about $600-700 total, and it comes on a college transcript so is acceptable to start boards.

My state – KY – passed rules limiting CLEPs substantially after I was licensed (I think just 6 credits now IIRC?), so I'm really glad I was licensed first, since they were a substantial part of my degree. Maybe I'm the reason for the new rule. 😐 Oh well. 🙂 Since your state does allow the credits, I'd really encourage you to pursue them! 🙂

[stozzo88]

Awesome, I'll take a look at your thread, thanks for the info!

FAR- 1-18-2016- 82
BEC- 2-22-2016- 81
REG- 4-11-2016- 84
AUD- 5-17-2016- 86

[1koolcat]

I took 5 tests, I can't remember which were CLEP and which were DSST, but I took both. I was enrolled at the time, I don't know if that is a requirement, but when you take the test, the computer asks you to pick your school. I imagine you would want to pick the school you graduated from so they could just add it to your existing transcript. My school had a list of what the CLEP and DSST would cover, as in, passing the Humanities CLEP would give you 3 hours of a 100 level Humanities credit, etc. Also, the CLEP and DSST websites give you an overview of what's on the exam.

I wish I had taken more placement exams because they saved me so much time and money. I just went to Amazon and my local college bookstore and picked up cheap books (old texts no longer used for class) to study. I passed all 5 – Western Civ I and II, Humanities, Intro to World Religions, and I think the last one was another religion course. I took them on Saturdays at the school (but not on the same day!) The tests are multiple choice and surprise, you get your score immediately after finishing.

Check out this option before enrolling at a community college. You could get 7 credits for $300 this way.

AUD - 77
REG - 73, 80
FAR - 69, 73, 79 and DONE!
BEC - 82

[MrHopeful215]

never took clep, but I am taking classes at community college of philadelphia over summer. My 3 classes for summer 1 cost about 2K. all online

AUD - 82
REG - 78
BEC - 78
FAR - 76

[mitchmatch]

For 3 credit at LSU its cost me roughly $500. Not sure where you are getting the $1000

FAR-76 First attempt.
AUD-79 First attempt.
REG-79 First attempt.
BEC-79 First attempt.

Done!

BECKERS

[mitchmatch]

From LSU's website

Credit Hours Tuittion Plus fees
3 $519.00 $10.00 $61.00 $17.00 $12.00 $32.0 Total $651.00

Its not the cheapest, but you have like 6 months to do, and its overall really easy.

FAR-76 First attempt.
AUD-79 First attempt.
REG-79 First attempt.
BEC-79 First attempt.

Done!

BECKERS

[sagittarian]

CLEP is a GREAT option. I did not take it to satisfy 150 credits but did it for prerequisites for school. I took Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics. I borrowed one economics book from library, studied for two days that is over the weekend, and took the exam on Monday. Passed both exams and got 6 credits in total.

The only catch is, check if you need to be enrolled in a program to take CLEP exams and for the credit to count towards the 150 credits. If not, then CLEP is a great option.

If I had taken those two courses through any other method, as far as I've checked I would have spent at least $2,500. Since I took CLEP, I spent only $160 in total. It also saves a lot of time.

[stozzo88]

i was adding in the cost of the book, I think for the one class I was looking at it came in like 250 for everything. I round up. After you pass all the exams is there a time limit on when you need to satisfy all the requirements?

FAR- 1-18-2016- 82
BEC- 2-22-2016- 81
REG- 4-11-2016- 84
AUD- 5-17-2016- 86

[Anonymous]

@stozzo88 Whether or not there is a time limit can vary by state. The majority (I think?) of states don't have the exam credits expire; however, some do require all licensure requirements to be completed within a certain length of time in order to have the credits count.

[Author]

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