Starting in June 2004 with the CLEP computer-based tests (CLEP eCBT) and expanding to include the Internet-based (iBT) DSSTs in October 2006, the on-base national test center option is now firmly in-place at 63 military installations in CONUS, the Far East, Cuba and Germany. While CLEP eCBT was the first computer-based credit-by-examination program, the recently introduced iBT DSST delivery system is expanding quickly and is on 30 of the 63 installations. Within the next few months, this number will grow to nearly 50.
What are some of the characteristics of these 63 installations? Twenty-six (26) are Air Force; twenty-one (21) are Navy; eleven (11) are Army; four (4) are Marine Corps and one (1) is an Air National Guard installation. Most of these education centers were considered medium to high volume CLEP centers. In FY07, approximately one-third of all Air Force CLEP volume now is administered by these 26 on-base national test centers, and if you subtract the 44 percent of the paper-based CLEP volumes attributed to the nine Air Force Learning Resource Centers in the Middle East, this percentage increases to 46 percent. For the Navy, 60 percent of the Navy’s CLEP volume is delivered at these 21 Navy installations.
The University of Maryland has national test centers on 14 installations, two in CONUS and 12 in the Far East. Columbia College holds the CONUS record with eight Air Force, Army, Navy and Air Guard installations. Saint Leo University is on seven; Hawaii Pacific University is on five in Hawaii; Pikes Peak Community College is located on three in Colorado; Central Texas College is at FT Hood, San Diego, and Germany; and Okaloosa Walton College and Florida Community College at Jacksonville are both on two nearby military installations. Nineteen other colleges/universities provide CLEP eCBT and/or iBT DSST testing services at single site locations.
Forty-two percent of military examinees test on the CLEP computer-based exams either at on-base or on-campus national test centers. These Service members benefit from instant score results and access to all 34 CLEP eCBT test titles. As the iBT DSST program continues to grow in FY07 and FY08, the total number of military examinees testing at national test centers will represent an even greater percentage.
There’s still room for growth, particularly in Europe and with Army in CONUS. Most likely the total number of on-base national test centers will not exceed 100 or so. But these on-base national test centers will account for over 70 percent of the total CLEP and DSST volume and yet comprise only 18 percent of the military installations with DANTES Test Centers.
The success of the national test center initiative is directly attributed to those Education Service Officers who for a variety of reasons wanted to significantly improve the quality of service to their Service members and others participating in their on-base education program. As importantly, was the willingness of the 27 colleges and universities to partner with these education centers to deliver this testing opportunity.
