Appendix C

Advanced Placement Test

Polk State College grants college credit to students who present satisfactory scores on one or more of the Advanced Placement Program examinations of the College Entrance Examination Board as defined in the chart below. The examination must be taken after the completion of the Advanced Placement course in high school and prior to enrolling in college.

*An international student may use the International English Language Exam with a score of 4 or higher as a means of proving English proficiency as required for admission.

**A review of the student’s AP project/portfolio is necessary before granting credit. Contact Gary Baker or Vilas Tonape in the Art Department at 863-297-1020 for your portfolio review.

Polk State College requires official Advanced Placement scores to be sent to the Registrar’s Office before credit will be posted to your record. Polk State College’s score recipient code is 5548. To request official AP scores, please send your request in writing with the required fees to:

Advanced Placement Program - ETS, P.O. Box 6671, Princeton, NJ 08541-6671
You may call 609-771-7300 for more information and any related fees.

College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

CLEP exams, unlike Advanced Placement, are not built around curriculum, but rather are designed to test students’ knowledge on a variety of college-level subjects, regardless of where they might have learned the material. Committees of appropriate college faculty developed the exams. Polk State College awards credit for the examinations in the College-Level Examination Program for scores that meet the minimum score for credit as defined in the chart below. Examinations must have been taken in the national administration program of CLEP. An institutional administration that used the CLEP Microcomputer Scoring System and transmitted the student’s data to Educational Testing Services will also be accepted.

Course credit cannot be earned from CLEP for any course that the student has “attempted.” A course attempt is defined as a course registration still in effect at the end of the Drop/Add period and which is listed on the student’s transcript. If a CLEP exam awards credit for multiple courses and the student has attempted one of the courses but not the other, passing scores on the CLEP exam will award credit for the course not previously attempted.

Administration and Fees

Polk State College charges a test administration fee, and the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) charges an exam fee. Refer to the Polk State College website at www.polk.edu. For testing sites, exam fees, test administration fees, registration, and score reporting procedures, please refer to the Winter Haven TLCC staff, Coordinators of Testing, or to the College Board website at www.collegeboard.com/clep.

Complete the registration form, purchase a $35.00 testing voucher to cover the administrative fee from the Winter Haven Cashier’s Office, and make an appointment.

To make an appointment, stop by the Winter Haven TLCC between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and between 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The TLCC is located on the second floor of the Learning Resources Building. You may also contact them by phone to make an appointment at 863-297-1033 during the same hours listed above. There will be no walk-in testing for CLEP exams. The appointment must be made at least 24 hours in advance.

On the day of your appointment, please arrive fifteen minutes before your scheduled appointment for check-in. You must bring your completed registration form, testing voucher, a picture ID (must also bear your signature), and means for paying for the exam. A credit card is the preferred method of payment for the exam. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover cards are accepted. A check or money order will also be accepted. Cash will not be accepted.

Scores

An examinee score report is provided to the student by the testing administrator after completion of the exam. It takes two to three weeks for an official score report to be mailed to the institution you choose as your score recipient. Polk State College’s score recipient code is 5548.

Score reports must be official and sent directly to Polk State College’s Registrar’s Office from Educational Testing Services (ETS). Scores are maintained by ETS for twenty years. If scores are more than twenty years old and cannot be obtained from ETS, credit will not be awarded. Official score reports may be obtained by requesting them in writing from ETS.

CLEP Program - ETS, PO Box 6600 Mail Stop 18Q, Princeton NJ 08541-6600.
You may call 609-771-7865 for more information and cost per transcript.

**The College Board offers optional essays should a college choose to require one.  Polk State College requires the optional essay for these exams.

*These credits are awarded to students based on Polk State College policy. CLEP credits are not guaranteed to transfer unless you have earned an Associate in Arts degree. If the exam has an optional essay, the minimum exam score and a passing grade on the essay are both required to earn credit.

Dantes Testing Programs (DSSTS)

The DANTES subject standardized tests (DSSTS), unlike Advanced Placement, are not built around curriculum, but rather are designed to test students’ knowledge on a variety of college-level subjects, regardless of where they might have learned the material. Exams are developed by committees of appropriate college faculty. For more information about the DANTES testing program, including test sites, cost of exams, and sample exam questions, please visit: www.getcollegecredit.com/materials or call 609-720-6740. Polk State College’s score recipient codes are 7772 for Winter Haven and 7806 for Lakeland.

Additional exams not listed may be accepted. Submit your official transcript to Admissions for evaluation toward your selected degree.

Excelsior Exam Program (Formerly Regents, ACT PEP)

Excelsior College Examinations are developed by Excelsior College using national committees of faculty consultants and national studies to assess how well the tests measure the performance of students in actual college courses. The American Council on Education approves Excelsior College Examinations for credit. Excelsior College is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSACS). More detailed information about Excelsior College Examinations, including detailed test descriptions, registration forms, testing locations, and exam fees, can be found at www.excelsior.edu.

Excelsior College Examinations not listed may be accepted as electives or substitutes for General Education courses. No nursing courses will be accepted toward the Nursing Program without approval of the Nursing Program Director.

*Sciences that have a Polk State College equivalent course with a lab are not accepted in lieu of a science with a lab requirement in any program.

International Baccalaureate Program (IB)

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program is a challenging curriculum offered in high schools around the world that is designed to prepare students for advanced work in many countries’ postsecondary educational systems.

Polk State College awards credit to International Baccalaureate students using the guidelines established in SBE Rule 6A-10.024 (8). Scores achieved in IB diploma examinations and the awarding of credits is mandatory under the provisions of the rule in the following manner:

• Students who have been awarded the IB diploma are awarded up to thirty (30) semester credits in the subject areas (standard and higher-level exams) in which they scored four (4) or above on IB diploma program examinations. The credits are awarded as follows:
  
  1. Six (6) semester credits for each IB examination in which students score a five (5) or above.
  2. Three (3) semester credits for each IB examination in which students score a four (4).
• Students who have not been awarded the IB diploma are awarded six (6) semester credits in the subject areas of each IB higher-level exam on which they score a five (5) or above.

An official score report is required and must be received directly from the International Baccalaureate office in New York. Send requests in writing to:

 International Baccalaureate, 200 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
You may call 212-696-4464 for more information.
More information about the IB program is available at: www.ibo.org.

Evaluation of IB examinations will be made after the student has been admitted to Polk State College. Courses for which credit is to be awarded are determined by the College and posted to the student’s transcript. No grades or grade points are assigned. No credit is awarded by testing that duplicates other credit already awarded or accepted in transfer.

*Scores of four (4) are awarded to IB diploma holders only. Scores of five (5), six (6), or seven (7) are awarded to non-diploma holders if they pass the higher-level exam and for diploma holders who pass the standard or higher-level exam.

The specific examination’s required scores and credits to be awarded are included in the table below.

*Only those students who have been awarded the IB diploma are awarded credit for exams with a score of four (4). Non-diploma students must have a five (5) or higher on the higher level exam in order to receive credit.