While most high school families are familiar with either AP and/or IB courses as pathways to college credit with passing exam/assessment scores, you may not be familiar with CLEP, College Level Examination Program, run by the College Board, the same organization that you know from the SAT.
If you student attends a high schools with few or no AP courses but still wants the opportunity to enter college with some credit, check to see if the institution(s) they are considering accept CLEP credit - over 2,900 do. Each institution will indicate the passing score needed to qualify for college credit on their campus.
CLEP is a great option for a student who has mastered a subject area by taking additional classes online or for a student who has always been fascinated by American Literature or U.S. History and has taken it upon themselves to learn whatever they can about these topics beyond what they have learned in the classroom. The exam is not directly tied to a course like the AP exam, but rather tests content that is presumed to be covered at an entry level college course, like an AP course. You can see what is covered in Spanish levels 1 and 2 here or Precalculus here, for example. CLEP offers 34 different exams.
Each test is $89, although students planning to take one from now through November 30 can save 50% on their next exam with a GOCLEP coupon code.
Free CLEP test preparation is available to students through non-profit education alliance Modern States in partnership with online learning platform edX.