Saylor Direct College Credit

Saylor Direct college credit courses can help you complete your degree with substantial tuition savings. We work directly with colleges and universities to provide zero-tuition transfer credit for many of our free, self-paced, online courses, helping degree-seekers overcome barriers of cost, time, and location.

Contents

• How Saylor Direct Credit works
• Checklist: what to do
• Course list
• Will your courses transfer?
• Prepare for your exam
• Proctoring services
• Taking your exam
• Transcripts
• FAQ

How Saylor Direct Credit Works

• Saylor Direct courses have been evaluated and recommended for transferable college credit by two organizations, ACE CREDIT and NCCRS.
• Based on those recommendations, you can earn transfer credit when you enroll at one of our partner schools or, potentially, at hundreds of other colleges and universities that have partnered with ACE or NCCRS.
• For each course you want to transfer, you must pass a Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam under the supervision of an exam proctor and request that a transcript be sent to your school(s). Note: exam proctoring and transcripts can involve fees, usually $25 and $20 respectively — see the FAQ at the end of this page for details.
• This page contains details that are essential to earning credit for your work. Read this page carefully and let us know your questions!

Watch this video for an overview of the Saylor Direct credit program:

Checklist: What to Do

1. Get to know the Saylor Direct Credit program

• Read through this guide and ask us your questions
• Choose the Saylor Direct Credit courses you hope to take for credit
• Make sure that your school will give credit for your courses and find out how your courses will fit into your degree program

2. Prepare for your exam

• Study the course materials
• Take the non-credit exam at least once for practice and review

3. Schedule and take your Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam*

• Familiarize yourself with the proctoring options and choose a proctor
• Schedule your exam with your proctor
• Take the Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam for your course

4. Order your transcript

• See instructions for how to send transcripts for your course(s)

? Save or print this checklist

* To earn the recommendation of credit, you must take the password-protected “Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam” with a proctor.

Saylor Direct Credit Courses

• Current
• Expired
• Available Soon

Current Recommendations

Complete recommendations are available via ACE and NCCRS. Credits are listed as lower division (LD) or upper division (UD).

Please note: several credit exams are not currently available (see expired courses below.)

Expired Recommendations

These are courses for which the credit recommendation has expired. If you previously completed a course below while the recommendation was active, you can still request a transcript.

Note: most of all of the currently expired courses below are scheduled for review during the week of January 11 through January 15. Results of the review will be available soon thereafter.

Credit Transfer to Colleges and Universities

Saylor Direct Credit courses are recommended for credit by ACE and NCCRS — earning transfer credit depends on your school accepting these recommendations. Students can earn credit through our Credit Transfer Partners and through the networks of colleges/universities maintained by ACE and NCCRS. We have signed agreements with our Credit Transfer Partners to make this process as dependable and streamlined as possible. Always check with your school for current policies about earning transfer credit for courses recommended by ACE and NCCRS.

Saylor Academy Credit Transfer Partners Our partner colleges and universities will guarantee recognition for some or all of our Saylor Direct credit courses. See individual partner pages for details (where available) on how our courses can transfer.

ACE and NCCRS networks Search the networks linked below to see if your school(s) will consider ACE or NCCRS credit recommendations:

• ACE: College and University Network
• NCCRS: Cooperating Colleges and Universities

If your school is not listed, talk to your advisor or the Admissions department about their transfer credit policies. It might be helpful to reference specific details on course credit recommendations when talking with your schools:

• ACE National Guide: Saylor Academy course recommendations
• NCCRS: Saylor Academy course recommendations

Preparing for Your Exam

The best way to prepare for a Saylor Direct Credit exam is to work through all the course materials. You can work at your own pace and take as long as you need. Saylor Academy courses and learning materials are free to use. We recommend taking a course’s non-credit certificate exam at least once to help you prepare (especially if you do not have time to work through the full course). Although the non-credit exams use a different bank of questions than the credit exams, both are similar. You can take a non-credit exam as many times as you like but must wait 7 days between consecutive attempts. We offer some tips on how to study for our exams. You will need a Saylor Academy account to take a final exam. If you do not yet have an account, you can create one using the link at the top of any course or the “log in or sign up” link at the top of the page. You should also familiarize yourself with the Saylor Direct Credit final exam. Some exams allow for special materials (like calculators and formula sheets). Visit the exam page (linked at the end of your course) and read through the details there.

Important: Although it might be tempting, do not create more than one Saylor Academy account or circumvent exam waiting periods (7 days after an attempt for non-credit exams, 14 days for Saylor Direct Credit exams) or other restrictions. We have these rules to keep our exams secure and ensure that all students have fair access to our college credit opportunities. Violations can result in delay or denial of your transcript, among other possible consequences.

Exam Proctoring

We work with ProctorU to provide online proctoring services for our students. Your ProctorU proctor will unlock and monitor your exam.

You can schedule your exam directly with ProctorU (proctoring is available 24/7). Students usually take the exam at home.

1. Sign up at https://go.proctoru.com or log in to your existing account.
2. Be sure to choose Saylor Academy for your institution or add Saylor Academy as an additional enrollment if you already use ProctorU with another institution.
3. Search for your course(s) and follow the instructions to schedule an exam session.

See ProctorU’s Test-Taker FAQ (especially Getting Started) to better understand their process. See also our complete instructions to get set up with ProctorU.

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Note: if you are unable to use ProctorU and have access to a local testing center, in-person proctoring (with approval) may be available.

Taking Your Exam

On test day, your proctor will unlock your exam and you will have two hours to complete it. You will receive your results immediately after submitting your answers. Be sure to read through the exam details ahead of time and familiarize yourself with any allowed materials, etc. Remember that you should have only one Saylor Academy account — using multiple accounts or other violations could invalidate your exam. If you have any concerns or questions, let us know before you take your exam!

Ordering a Transcript

Transcripts for Saylor Direct Credit courses can sent via the Acclaim platform or by Saylor Academy. For MA001 and CS101, which are currently recommended for credit by NCCRS only, you should request a Saylor Academy transcript (either in addition to or instead of the Acclaim process).

We recommend claiming your completed courses via the Acclaim platform.

• The Saylor Academy transcript is normally a paper transcript sent by mail. We do not use the secured electronic delivery services that most institutions require to accept emailed transcripts.
• The transcript via Acclaim, endorsed by ACE, is electronic and might be received and processed more quickly by your school.
• The transcript via Acclaim is free of cost.

Option 1: ACE/Acclaim Transcript

ACE has partnered with Credly to issue records of learning experiences endorsed by ACE via Credly’s Acclaim platform.

If you choose this option, Saylor Academy will send basic data (your name, email address, and course completion information) to Acclaim. Managing your records and sending transcripts to schools further requires you to create an account on the Acclaim platform. Please see Acclaim’s Terms and Privacy Policy.

1. Complete this request form. Please allow up to three business days for Saylor Academy staff to process your request.
2. Once we have approved your request, you should receive an email from Acclaim to claim your badge(s) for Saylor Academy courses endorsed by ACE.
3. See Acclaim’s article How can I send my Transcript for complete instructions on how to send your records to your college or university.

Contact us with any questions. You can also explore the Acclaim help center.

Option 2: Saylor Academy Transcript

1. Complete this transcript request form. We ask for either the last four digits of your Social Security Number or for your Date of Birth to help identify you to colleges/universities. If your choose to use your date of birth as part of your identification, send ID confirmation using our secure form.
2. Saylor Academy will create a transcript and send it by USPS First Class mail. We usually process and mail transcripts on Tuesdays and Fridays, so please note that it can take several days for your transcript to be processed and to arrive at its destination.

Option 3: Unofficial Transcript

You can view or print your unofficial transcript at any time through the site that hosts our course completion certificates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common questions are below; please also visit our Help Center for more details. Additional help is available in the FAQs for ACE, NCCRS, and ProctorU.

What are NCCRS and ACE?

These are the independent organizations that recommend our courses for college credit. Both have long histories and widespread recognition among colleges and universities. Since 1974, the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT?) has connected learning obtained outside the classroom to college credit in partnership with colleges and universities. NCCRS (National College Credit Recommendation Service) is a program under the University of the State of New York Board of Regents that helps “working adults and other students earn credit for learning acquired outside of the college classroom”. See also:

• ACE Transfer Guide and FAQ
• ACE Contact
• NCCRS FAQ
• NCCRS Contact

What are the costs/fees?

Although Saylor Academy courses are free, there are fees for proctoring services. We do not charge those fees, so please confirm questions about fees with ProctorU representatives.

ProctorU charges $25 USD for each session/attempt. Remember that you might need to attempt an exam more than one time. For rush-scheduling or longer sessions, ProctorU might charge more.

Other costs:

• Your college/university might charge fees to transfer credit. Talk to your advisor or Admission staff to find out policies for transfer credit.

My school isn’t one of your partners. Will I get credit for my course?

Both NCCRS and ACE have large networks of colleges and universities that have agreed to consider their recommendations in granting credit for students. Contact your advisor or the Admissions office at your college/university to find out their policies about ACE, NCCRS and transfer credit.

My course isn’t listed on this page. Can I get credit for it?

The only Saylor Academy courses that are recommended for college credit by ACE and NCCRS are the ones listed on this page. In most cases, Saylor Academy courses not listed on this page will not connect to college credit.

Do I have to take the entire course? Can I just take the exam?

Taking the course is very much recommended, but not required – your recommendation for college credit is based entirely on passing the proctored Saylor Direct Credit final exam.

How many times can I take the exam?

Saylor Direct Credit final exams can be taken three times total within the current credit recommendation window for a given course. When the credit recommendation for a course renews, three more attempts will be available. Typically, a course is recommended for three years at a time.

For example, if a course is recommended for credit from June 2019 through May 2022, you have up to three attempts on the credit exam during that time.

(Note: our previous policy allowed for additional attempts 30 days after the initial three attempts, so attempts before November 1, 2019 will NOT count against the three-attempt limit. Between November 2019 and March 15, 2020, you may have seen conflicting information referring to the older policy; contact us with questions and concerns.)

What are the Saylor Direct Credit final exams like?

Credit and non-credit exams are similar but not identical. See our help center article about final exams for details on what to expect.

What is a passing score on the exam?

Like our certificate exams, a passing score is 70%. Some colleges and universities might require a higher score. We recommend that you take the certificate exam one or more times as preparation and so that you will better know what to expect from the proctored exam.

Will I get a letter or point grade?

No. Your Saylor Academy transcript will include your final exam score as a percent grade. Your ACE transcript will not show a grade at all. Often, transfer credit will be recorded without a specific grade – check with your college/university to find out their policies.

How long will it take for my school to receive my transcript?

We usually mail Saylor Academy transcripts on Tuesday and Friday. Depending on when you submit your request, please plan for up to 7 days for your school to receive your transcript and additional time for your school to process the transcript.

ACE transcripts (via the Acclaim system), sent by email, are the quickest option.

Other useful resources

Active and knowledgeable communities exist around affordable credit options, such as DegreeForum and DegreeInfo – browse these forums to find tips and answers from many people who are pursuing low-cost degrees.

My question isn’t answered here!

Our Help Center might have what you need; you can also contact us.