College Credit for your Deaf or Hard of Hearing High Schooler

When it comes to high school many parents are worried that their kids simply graduate, this is especially true with students that have disabilities that can affect their learning. Many students have strong and weak subjects. I would like to encourage you to think a bit outside the box and look at these three ways that can save your student time and money when they get to college by planning now in middle school and high school.

Many people are already familiar with Advanced Placement (AP) classes and the exams that are taken at the end of those classes that can earn college credit. AP classes can be hard and take a lot of a student's time. There are also dual enrollment programs that allow high school students to take college classes at the community college. These programs are growing in availability but are limited by many high schools to the top students. The third way is the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) by the College Board. They offer 33 different tests that students can take and if your student passes then they can get college credit when they enroll in a college that accepts CLEP (most colleges do but the amount of credits and the tests accepted can vary).

CLEP is not new, it has been around for years, used by the military and adults that already have experience to test out of subjects. There are a lot of great benefits to CLEP. Students do not have to sit in a class, they study on their own, at their own pace. They can study using a textbook, by watching videos of a free online college class (most all colleges classes caption their videos), doing math on Khan Academy, or watching Crash Course on youtube! They take practice tests and when they are ready go to a testing center and take the exam. 

For our Deaf and Hard of Hearing youth who often have issues in a regular class setting this can be a great low stress way to get some college credit.

One great resource is Modern States. They have free online classes and when you finish the class you can request a voucher to take the CLEP exam there by making it free!

For those of you interested in homeschooling or more info on this subject Homeschooling for College Credit has a lot more info and is a great jumping off point. It is possible to have your child graduate high school with a 2 or 4 year degree from a regionally accredited college!

If you would like more information please feel free to contact us!