Credit By Exam
Overview
Students may receive credit for accelerated credit-by-exam mechanisms by providing the exam score(s) to the Office of the Registrar.
Credit awarded by exam may not duplicate other credit. Students may satisfy up to 45 semester hours of course credit through one or more of the mechanisms listed below; however, a maximum of 30 hours may be awarded for the IB diploma.
Score minimums, credit hours awarded, and course equivalencies awarded are subject to change for any examination without prior notice. Credit for all exams is awarded based on the recommendation of the State of Florida Office of Articulation.
| Exam | How to Provide Scores |
|---|---|
| AP | Scores can be downloaded free of charge from College Board. The downloaded scores can be turned-in at the Office of the Registrar, mailed or e-mailed as an attachment from the student's SF email address. |
| Cambridge AICE | Use the link (gradetranscripts.cambridgeinternational.org/) to have your scores sent to Santa Fe College. Once we receive the scores, the appropriate credits should appear on your record within 7 business days. |
| IB | Request scores/certificate to be emailed to Santa Fe College from ibo.org. |
| CLEP | Scores can be downloaded from College Board. Students can also obtain a copy of their scores when they complete the exam at a testing location. The scores can be turned-in at the Office of the Registrar, mailed or e-mailed as an attachment from the student's SF email address. |
Pictures or copy and paste produced documents with the scores will not be accepted.
College credit will be awarded according to the equivalency table for each credit-by-exam mechanism.
AP/IB/Cambridge AICE Policy
Some academic programs may require/recommend students to actually take a course for which they already have earned AP/IB/Cambridge AICE credit, for reasons like:
- The AP score(s) not accepted for transfer
- Need to take the course for a grade
In these cases, students have the option to either still earn the credit by transferring in their credit-by-exam credit(s) or not transfer the credit(s) and taking the class at Santa Fe.
Students are encouraged to carefully review the following considerations before making their decision:
| Transferring in your credits(s) | Not transferring in your credit(s) |
|---|---|
| AP/IB/Cambridge AICE credit(s) will be included on transcript. | AP/IB/ Cambridge AICE credit(s) will not be included on transcript. |
| C or Better appeal is required for permission to take the course. | C or Better appeal is not required. Students can register on their own to take the course. |
| AP/IB/ Cambridge AICE credits will always be considered the attempt of record, which earns the credit. Taking the course at Santa Fe will be considered a second attempt (repeat). It will not earn credit and the grade will not be included in the GPA calculation. | The course will earn credit and the grade will be included in the GPA calculation. |
| Taking the course may impact financial aid, including Bright Futures, because the course will not count as earned credit towards degree. | The course will count as earned credit for financial aid purposes. |
Students who want to earn credit by taking the course and do not want to bring in their AP/IB/Cambridge credits(s) must submit the Request to Not Transfer Credit-by-Exam Credits form, available under the Documents menu tab on eSantaFe. The form must be submitted by the last day of classes of the student's first semester. This is a one-time election and will not be changed.
Credits will be transferred in for students who do not submit the form by the last day of classes of their first semester.