Accelerate Your Education
DANTES-funded DSST exams allow military members to earn college credit for prior knowledge, significantly reducing tuition assistance (TA) costs and the time required to complete a degree.
Program Eligibility
Service Members: All actively serving members of the U.S. Military Services, including the National Guard, Reserve components, Coast Guard, and Coast Guard Reserve members must have and maintain a valid government-issued Common Access Card (CAC) to be eligible for DANTES funding.
U.S. Coast Guard Spouses: Spouses of active duty and Coast Guard Reserve members must have and maintain the Uniformed Services Identification and Privilege Card, DD Form 1173 to be eligible for DANTES funding.
Air Force Civil Service Employees: Non-contract Air Force civilian employees are eligible for DANTES-sponsored CLEP testing but must test at on-base or at fully-funded test centers.
Personnel not funded by DANTES include the following:
- Inactive Guard, Inactive Reserve, and Coast Guard Auxiliary
- Military Retirees
- Separated/Discharged Veterans
- DoW Acquisition Workforce Personnel
- Spouses, Dependents, and Civil Service employees of active duty Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force
- Spouses, Dependents, and Civil Service employees of National Guard and Reserve components
- Employees of the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve
Student Benefits 
- Earn college credit for your prior knowledge and training
- Reduce course completion time; the average exam takes only a few hours vs. 8-15 weeks in-classroom or online
- Decrease time to complete your degree; reduces the number of courses taken to complete your degree
- Save money; DANTES funds one attempt per exam title for eligible examinees
- Avoid tuition assistance (TA) costs for courses replaced by credit earned through testing
- Find your exam scores on your military transcript, also known as the Joint Services Transcript (JST) or Community College of the Air Force (CCAF)
- Get FREE test prep and study materials provided online, via mobile apps, and at installation libraries and education centers
- Know your score instantly for most exams
Prep for Your Exam
Speak with an Education Counselor
Your first step when considering a CLEP exam is to contact a Services' Education Counselor to determine if the exam you want to take will meet your degree requirements and if your college will accept this type of credit.
Prometric DSST Study Resources
Gain insight into what's on your test with Free DSST exam fact sheets. These tools provide an overview of the exam subject, references to use, and practice questions to answer.
You can also get study material and try one of DSST's Free online practice exams from the Prometric website.
DoD MWR Libraries
Veterans, military service members and their families can access free test preparation materials through the DoD MWR Digital Library. EBSCO Learning Express specifically offers DoD Test Prep materials.
Fees & Retesting
Exam Fees
For eligible test examinees, DANTES provides upfront funding of DSST test fees for the first attempt on all exam titles.
Retesting Policy
Retests are not funded by DANTES. If military test takers want to retake an exam, previously funded by DANTES, a three-month wait and self-payment of the current exam fee and administrative fees are required of the examinee by the test center. Those members who retest should use the "public/civilian" test registration procedures to pay for their test costs.
Find a Test Center
There are two types of test centers:
- Fully-Funded: Test centers may be located on or off base. DANTES funds the administration and test fees for service members.
- Test Fee Only: Test centers are off-base colleges and universities that provide testing. DANTES funds the test fee. Service members are responsible for paying the administration fee. Fees vary by institution.
Find a national or international test center.