Credit by Examination
The Policy
If you have gained, through previous study or experience, knowledge of the content of a particular course offered through Self-paced Courses, you may request to take the course examination without submitting the course assignments. The approval of the instructor and Credit Programs for Part-time Students is required for credit by examination. If you earn a passing grade you will receive credit for the course. You may attempt credit by examination only in courses that are listed in the Self-paced Courses catalog and that originate from Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, NC State University, and UNC-Chapel Hill.
In general, if you are currently enrolled at an institution participating in the Self-paced Courses program, you are not eligible for credit by examination for courses offered by that institution. You should contact the department or school offering the course to arrange for special examinations. (If, on the basis of unusual circumstances, you wish to seek special permission to receive credit by examination through Self-paced Courses, you should contact the appropriate academic advising office at your institution.)
If you are seeking a degree at a postsecondary institution, make certain before enrolling that the credits will be approved by the dean of the school or college awarding the degree. It is your responsibility to have the credit approved toward your degree prior to applying for credit by examination.
Credit Granted
Credit earned by examination will be considered in the same way as transfer credit from another college. Please take special note of the following:
- Only the course title and credit hours will be recorded, except for courses originating from East Carolina University (ECU). No grade will be indicated, except for ECU courses. In the case of ECU, regular course grades will be used and recorded along with the course title and credit hours.
- Credit earned by examination will not count toward meeting residence requirements.
- Credit earned by examination will not be used in calculating your cumulative average; however, for ECU courses the grade earned will be used in calculating the cumulative average at ECU.
- The credit will be recorded only if you pass, except for ECU courses, in which both passing and failing grades will be recorded.
Who is Eligible
Anyone may apply for permission to attempt credit by examination on the basis of knowledge or proficiency in a subject area as long as she or he has not previously earned college credit for it. Credit by examination may not be used in ECU courses by anyone who has previously enrolled in the course, even if the course was not completed. Here are examples of the types of situations for which credit by examination may be sought:
- You have been out of school for ten years but have traveled extensively. You want to attend college and feel qualified to pass the UNC-Chapel Hill course, RUSS 101: Elementary Russian.
- You attended a technical institute for two years and have now decided to seek a BA degree at a four-year college. You have had several courses in the field of social science, but none that were equivalent to SOCI 101 at UNC-Chapel Hill. You now need credit for an introductory sociology course and believe you can pass the SOCI 101 exam with some review.
The Procedure
Complete the Request for Approval form and the short Residency Status form (if you claim North Carolina residence for tuition purposes) and mail them to Credit Programs for Part-time Students. Allow thirty days for processing. The forms require Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download for free if you do not have it on your computer.
You will receive notification that you have or have not been approved to take an examination in the desired subject. If approved, you will receive a registration form. Once you complete and return the registration form with the appropriate fees (see “Cost”), you will be sent a course guide that you can use in preparing for the exam and a special exam application. We recommend that you purchase the books that are used for the course. See the course description for a list of books and information on obtaining them.
You may take the special exam application to an accredited college, university, community college, or technical institute of your choice and request to have your examination supervised there. On the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, you may request to take the examination at the Friday Center (919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669). Examinations are supervised at NCSU at the McKimmon Center in the Office of Distance Education, 1730 Varsity Dr., Ste. 140, CB# 7292, Raleigh, NC 27695-7292. The contact person is John Pugh (Proctor), 919-513-1513. There is no fee for examinations supervised at the McKimmon Center.. Your examination will be sent to the institution where the exam will be supervised. Exams taken in Chapel Hill must be scheduled at least one week prior to the exam date; those taken elsewhere must be scheduled at least two weeks prior to the exam date.
Your examination will be graded by the instructor of the course, and you will be notified of the results as soon as possible. Allow three weeks to receive your grade. If you plan to have a transcript sent to another institution, allow at least three additional weeks.
Cost
The credit-by-examination fee is $126 for North Carolina residents, $257 for nonresidents.
All students who wish to be considered eligible for North Carolina tuition rates must complete a short Residency Status form. The fee should not be submitted until the credit by examination request has been approved. Upon notice of approval, send your payment along with your registration form, which will be mailed to you with the approval letter. If you believe that you qualify as a North Carolina resident for tuition purposes, submit the fee for North Carolina residents. If you are determined not to be a resident for tuition purposes, you will be billed for the difference in tuition. Please be advised that even if you have chosen to submit the tuition for North Carolina residents, unless you are notified to the contrary in writing, your classification is nonresident for tuition purposes. Make your check payable to the Friday Center for Continuing Education.
In accordance with the policy that no more than two courses may be taken at any one time, you may not register for more than two examinations at any one time. Also, you may not be enrolled in a total of more than two regular Self-paced Courses courses or examinations through credit by examination. After you have taken and received a grade on your examination, you may register for examinations on other courses.
Time Limitations
You must take the examination within six months of the notification that your request for credit by examination has been approved.
Refunds
If you decide to discontinue your enrollment within two months of the invoice date, you will be eligible for a refund of $25 of the credit by exam fee. Contact Higher Grounds for possible repurchase of textbooks.
Grades
The instructor for the particular course is responsible for assigning the grade. Except in the case of ECU courses, for which regular letter grades are used, special designations indicating a passing grade are reported for credit by examination enrollments. Be certain that these designations will be accepted in the degree program you are pursuing. Failures are not recorded on your transcript, with the exception of ECU courses.