Credit by Exam

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Policy Number:
UW-1005
Responsible Office:
Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research

University Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

Students may acquire knowledge, skills, and competencies through a variety of experiences that are academic in nature but may not necessarily correspond to a setting in which UW–Madison awards traditional credit. Credit by examination is one opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery of material that is equivalent to what would be learned in a specific UW–Madison course.

The opportunity for students to earn credit by exam has several benefits for both students and the university:

  • Students will have a low-cost option for earning credit for skills and knowledge they already possess.
  • Students will have the opportunity to quickly move on to more challenging and enriching courses.
  • The university will benefit by freeing up seats in courses that are in demand and by supporting timely progress to degree.
Definitions:
Academic unit
The academic and administrative home for an academic program or subject listing, also known as an academic department, housed within an academic division (school/college). The academic unit originates all program and curricular changes through academic governance; ensures the curriculum is appropriate and that courses are offered regularly; provides student support services such as advising; prepares all content for the Guide and assures the program and subject listing is represented accurately at all times; oversees the course evaluation process; coordinates assessment and program review; and receives allocation for program enrollment, degrees, certificates and credits in the information systems.
Examination (Exam)
For purposes of this policy, all potential methods of evaluation of student learning.
Scope:

This policy is primarily intended to serve degree-seeking undergraduate students but does not prohibit credit by exam for degree-seeking students at other levels.

This policy does not address transfer credit, military credit, placement exams, third-party credit by exam (e.g., Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), College Level Examination Program (CLEP)), or retroactive credits. 

Policy:
  1. Courses Available for Credit by Exam

    A list of courses that offer credit by exam is available in the Credit by Examination section of the Guide.

  2. Student Eligibility

    To be eligible for credit by exam, a student must:

    1. Be classified as a degree-seeking student; and
    2. Be enrolled or eligible to enroll in the current term; and
    3. Satisfy all catalog level requisites for the course; and
    4. Take a separate exam (or set of assessments) for each course in which credit is sought.
  3. Credit Limitations
    1. Credit earned by exam does not count toward the credit residency requirements for a degree.
    2. A student may not attempt an exam for credit for any course they are or were previously enrolled in past the add deadline for the course.
    3. A student may not take credit by exam for a specific course more than once.
    4. A student may not earn credit by exam for a course or course equivalent for which they have previously been awarded credit.
    5. No student may attempt credit by exam in a course that is a catalog level requisite, stated or implied, for an advanced course in the same subject (or subjects if the course is cross-listed) for which credit has already been earned, without approval from the academic unit offering the course (i.e., if a student has already completed a more advanced course in a subject, they may not later earn credit by exam for that course's direct requisite or implied earlier requisites).
    6. A native speaker of a language cannot earn credit by exam in that language. For UW–Madison, the native language is defined as the language of instruction at the student's secondary school.
    7. Undergraduate students are strongly encouraged to take exams for credit prior to earning 90 degree credits (including the semester in which the 90th credit is earned) to avoid complications with the residence requirement.
  4. Credit on Student Record
    1. Credit by exam will be posted as ‘Other Credit’ and will reflect the specific course for which the student earns credit.
    2. The Office of the Registrar will post credits earned through exam to the student record within 10 days of receiving a completed form from an academic unit.
    3. Credit earned will be posted to the student's transcript only if the student successfully completes the requirements for the exam.
      1. If the attempt for credit by exam is unsuccessful, no record of the attempt will be noted on the student’s transcript.
      2. The course credit will be posted to the term that corresponds with the date the exam is completed.
    4. Course credit earned via exam does not carry grade points and does not factor into the grade-point average.
    5. Course credit earned via exam does not factor into course load which determines whether the student is full-time or part-time.
    6. Course credit earned via exam may not transfer to other institutions without reevaluation by their faculty in accordance with their academic policies.
  5. Academic Unit Requirements
    1. It is the responsibility of each academic unit to determine which courses are eligible for credit by exam. There is no requirement or expectation for credit by exam, but if credit by exam will be offered for a course, the academic unit must follow this policy.
    2. It is incumbent upon the academic unit offering credit by exam to confirm a student’s eligibility as outlined in Section II. Once a student has been granted permission to take the exam, they will be considered eligible to receive credit accordingly, and the academic unit cannot reverse its decision.
    3. Faculty will determine the standards, methods, and procedures for evaluation. Academic units may use any evaluation method or combination of methods including:
      1. Written examination
      2. Oral examination
      3. Performance evaluation (practical exam)
      4. Other methods consistent with the evaluation of student learning in the corresponding regular course
    4. The content, quality, and quantity of material in the examination for credit must be consistent with what is covered in the specific UW–Madison course for which the exam is intended to provide credit.
      1. The method of evaluation must be like the standard method used in the equivalent course (e.g., a dance course with a performance as the final exam is to include some type of performance evaluation, a writing-intensive course is not to use a multiple-choice exam format).
      2. Some courses that use particular pedagogies and/or have certain attributes, like Communication B, may not be appropriate for awarding credit by exam.
    5. Some courses (e.g., independent study or variable topic) may not be appropriate for awarding credit by exam.
    6. The exam option must be available to all eligible students regardless of how they acquired the skills, knowledge, or competencies.
    7. To earn credit, the student must demonstrate a clear mastery of the course material and perform at a level sufficient for higher-level work in that field of study.
    8. If a course is cross-listed, all cross-listed units must agree on an examination and select one academic unit to administer all examinations for the course.
  6. Approval to Offer Credit by Exam
    1. Before offering credit by exam for a specific course, an academic unit must obtain approval.
      1. The Lumen Exam Proposal Form must be submitted and approved prior to a student taking the exam.
      2. The credit by exam approval process follows the same approval steps as a course proposal.
        1. The academic unit that owns the subject listing must review and approve the proposal.
        2. All applicable academic units must review and approve a proposal involving cross-listed courses.
        3. The school/college must review and approve the proposal.
        4. The Graduate School must review and approve any proposal involving a course numbered 300+.
        5. The University Curriculum Committee is the final step in the approval process.
    2. Once a course is approved for credit by exam, it will be added to a master list of all courses available for credit by exam in Guide. This process serves as one of the few avenues for awarding credit other than by offering for-credit courses.
      1. Academic units are expected to review and assess all credit by exam opportunities on an ongoing basis to ensure exams continue to match the content of courses.
      2. Any time a course is changed through the course change proposal process, the exam must be updated to ensure it remains aligned with the learning outcomes of the course.
      3. If credit by exam for a course goes unused for five years, it will be removed from the approved list.
  7. Administration of the Exam
    1. The exam must be administered and/or supervised by a member of the faculty or academic staff.
    2. The examination of the student must take place after the student has matriculated as a degree seeking student.
    3. The academic unit is responsible for validating the identity of the student prior to administering the exam by using a government-issued document with a photo, or the Wiscard.
    4. The academic unit must submit a Credit by Exam Form to the Office of the Registrar within seven business days of scoring the exam/evaluation for any student who attempts credit by exam, even if the attempt is not successful.
      1. The Office of the Registrar will process the form and archive it with the student’s record.
      2. The official student record serves as a record of all credit by exam attempts and will allow for the enforcement of the single attempt rule.
  8. Fees
    1. The fee for each exam is $135 and is credited to the academic unit offering the exam; they may assess a lower fee of $75 or $100 as noted on the Lumen Exam Proposal Form. Academic units may choose to waive the fee but must do so according to consistent, equitable standards.
    2. The fee must be paid prior to attempting an exam.
      1. The fee is not refundable.
      2. The academic unit offering the exam is responsible for verifying that the fee has been paid.
    3. The fee is waived for Banner, Bucky's Pell Pathway, Bucky’s Tuition Promise, Wisconsin Tribal Education Promise, and Pell-eligible students.
    4. The fee must be paid using the CASHNet system. The Bursar’s Office will provide support with setup and reconciliation.
    5. The fee will be reviewed annually by the Office of Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research.
Related UW-Madison Policies:
Related UW–Madison Documents, Web Pages, or Other Resources:

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Policy Manager:
Vice Provost for Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research
Contact:
Associate Director, Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research -- Michelle Young, MEYOUNG@WISC.EDU, (608) 262-2143
Effective Date:
06-18-2017
Revised Dates:

12-11-2020, 01-14-2021, 11-30-2023, 12-19-2024

Retrieved:
04-24-2025 23:31:35