Earned Credits: AP, CLEP, & Other Special Options
Students in the college may earn credit toward a degree for knowledge gained prior to enrollment in the college or for knowledge gained outside traditional college courses. Specific programs by which credit is awarded are described below. In addition, credit may be earned for ROTC. Students should contact the CLAS Advising Office for specific details of these programs.
For credit in a student’s major or minor, the appropriate department must be consulted.
Advanced Placement
Students who have taken advanced courses in high school and who have earned high scores on the Advanced Placement (AP) standardized exams may be eligible for university credit. Advanced Placement scores of five, four, or three (a score of three requires a course letter grade of A in the last semester) will receive credit toward the downtown Denver campus core curriculum.
Individual departments establish advanced placement criteria for credit. Students should contact the department advisor for specific details concerning advanced placement credit.
International Baccalaureate
Students who have taken International Baccalaureate (IB) standardized exams may be eligible for university credit. IB scores of seven, six, five, or four, will receive credit toward the downtown Denver campus core curriculum. Students completing an International Baccalaureate Diploma program shall be awarded 24 credit hours minimum in accordance with HB 03-1108.
Individual departments establish advanced placement criteria for credit. Students should contact the department advisor for specific details concerning advanced placement credit.
Credit by Examination
Students with sufficient experience and knowledge may receive credit for a specific course by taking a comprehensive examination given by the faculty. Students should contact their faculty advisor in advance to determine whether examination credit will apply to their degree.
To qualify for an examination, the student must be formally working toward a degree at UCD, have a grade point average of at least 2.0, and be currently registered. Contact the registrar's office for instructions. A nonrefundable fee is charged.
Internships or Cooperative Education
Undergraduate students may seek credit from an employment experience that contains academic content and is sponsored by a CLAS faculty member. Internships are helpful for career exploration early in a student’s academic career, or for job experience after developing academic content in the major.
Students must have a minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA in a minimum of 15 semester hours of UCD course work. A maximum of 3 semester hours of internship credit per semester and 9 semester hours overall is allowed toward the 120 semester hours applied toward graduation.
Undergraduate students should contact the Career Center for details about the internship contract and faculty sponsorship requirements.
Courses in the Professional Schools and in Physical Education
Students may count up to 24 semester hours of academic course work taken outside of liberal arts, such as business, engineering, architecture, journalism, and education.
Up to 8 semester hours of activity courses in physical education will count toward the 120 hours required for the degree.
Independent Study
Qualified CLAS undergraduate students who seek to further their examination of knowledge outside the structured classroom are encouraged to register for independent study. Undergraduate independent study is a nonstructured, independent research project under the sponsorship and supervision of a faculty member. Students should consult with the faculty sponsor to discuss the project and initiate the independent study contract.
To qualify for independent study credit, students must have a declared major or minor in the discipline of the independent study project and a minimum cumulative UCD GPA of 2.5. Those seeking seniorlevel independent study must have a minimum junior standing and sufficient course work to allow independent research in the discipline.
Faculty seeking to sponsor an independent study project must have either instructor or tenure-track rank. Faculty seeking to sponsor an independent study project as part of an undergraduate honors project must be tenure-track rank.
Independent study projects are typically awarded credit on a 3:1 (4:1 in summer) basis for contact hours per week to credit hours. That is, a 3-credit-hour independent study project typically requires 9 hours of effort per week over the semester.
College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences students may earn university credit by examination in subject areas in which they have obtained college-level proficiency.
Academic credit in the downtown Denver campus core curriculum is awarded for all CLEP subject examination areas in which students score at or above the 50th percentile. Academic credit is not awarded for CLEP general examination areas. The use of CLEP subject examinations toward major, minor, or certificate requirements is subject to a separate evaluation by the faculty advisor in the department or program.
To receive academic credit from CLEP, students must present official test results to the downtown Denver campus Office of Admissions.
A maximum of 30 hours of CLEP credit will count toward the degree.
