AP and College Credit

Advanced Placement (AP) Credits

Students who take AP classes often have questions regarding how colleges view AP credits. Policies about how AP credits are treated vary from school to school, and sometimes even between departments within a university. Visit http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/home for information. Students who take an AP test have usually completed an AP class in that subject.

Basically, if the college or university gives you credit, they're saying that you have completed the equivalent of that class, so you don't have to take the class and you receive the equivalent number of credits. This helps you get closer to reaching the credit hours required for graduation.

AP tests are offered in many subjects and are scored on a 5-point scale. All colleges require a minimum of a 3 in order to receive credit, and some colleges require a 4 or 5. Each school has a policy on how AP credits will be awarded and most will have a chart that indicates what score is required for credit, and the course that AP score will replace. Be sure to check out the value of your AP score at all colleges you are considering applying to.

To see how AP courses will transfer at UW System campuses, use the available search tool on the UW HELP website.

CAPP & College Credit Courses

CAPP/college courses are college-level courses that are taught here at Xavier. Basically, you are dual-enrolled at the university (UW-Oshkosh, UW Oshkosh - Fox Valley, Fox Valley Technical College, or St. Norbert College) and Xavier for that course. You will be beginning your college transcript while you are still in high school. It is important to look at your ability to transfer those credits to the colleges to which you apply. The colleges where the credits originate will usually have a web page indicating who accepts those credits.

Be aware that some schools will accept both the credits AND the grade, others will accept just the credits and a few very competitive colleges will not accept college credits earned on a high school campus. Be sure to check for how your prospective colleges will treat the college courses you are taking. Sometimes the grade you receive is based off of the originating college's grading scale, not Xavier's.

Here are the links to how you can request your transcripts to be sent to the college you decide to attend:

UW-Oshkosh (CAPP French, CAPP German, CAPP Spanish, CAPP Government & Politics, Intro to Sociology)
St. Norbert (English Composition and Introduction to Literature, Calculus)

College Level Examination Program (CLEP)

This is another testing program administered by the College Board that offers students the ability to earn college credits for knowledge that they already have. More information can be found at http://clep.collegeboard.org/.

CLEP tests are both general and subject exams that can be taken for college credit at various universities. Acceptable tests and scores vary by institution. Here is a link to a webpage with details about how each UW school handles CLEP tests.