Annual pass rates for each CLEP and DSST exam were once available through DANTES. Unfortunately, as of August 2018, the agency no longer posts this information in detail.

Here is the formerly-published data, from 2017. Unfortunately, these numbers are not likely to be updated, but they should still be helpful in estimating exam difficulty. For access to the limited 2018 pass rates, visit the DANTES website.

CLEP Pass Rates

CLEP Civilian Pass Rates 2017 Test Name Test Volume Pass Rate Spanish Language 32,300 91% College Composition Modular 3,530 83% College Composition 9,996 81% Introductory Sociology 4,167 80% Principles of Marketing 2,587 79% French Language 2,819 78% College Mathematics 4,382 76% Human Growth and Development 3,000 75% Analyzing and Interpreting Lit 6,267 75% Principles of Macroeconomics 1,467 72% German Language 791 72% Principles of Microeconomics 1,395 72% Info Systems and Computer Appl 1,511 71% Introductory Psychology 3,476 70% History of United States I 4,061 69% Western Civilization I 1,190 68% Humanities 1,629 68% Principles of Management 2,596 67% Precalculus 1,825 63% Social Sciences and History 859 62% English Literature 1,009 60% Intro to Educational Psych 1,129 60% Biology 4,595 60% Natural Sciences 1,630 57% History of United States II 3,991 56% Financial Accounting 803 55% Calculus 1,579 53% College Algebra 8,291 52% American Government 3,702 52% Introductory Business Law 780 51% American Literature 1,446 51% Western Civilization II 1,222 48% Chemistry 1,457 39%

CLEP Military Pass Rates 2017 Test Name Test Volume Pass Rate Spanish Language 2,238 84% College Composition Modular 5,528 82% College Composition 3,159 75% Info Systems and Computer Appl 1,766 71% French Language 174 67% College Mathematics 4,347 66% Introductory Sociology 2,135 61% Analyzing and Interpreting Lit 7,728 59% German Language 101 57% Principles of Marketing 675 55% Natural Sciences 967 49% History of United States I 1,267 39% Western Civilization II 177 39% Social Sciences and History 802 39% Western Civilization I 319 38% History of United States II 997 36% Humanities 1,239 36% Biology 713 36% Precalculus 156 35% Introductory Psychology 2,289 34% Principles of Management 4,550 33% Principles of Macroeconomics 431 33% Human Growth and Development 524 30% Principles of Microeconomics 395 26% English Literature 354 25% Introductory Business Law 180 24% College Algebra 2,034 24% American Government 1,241 24% Calculus 70 21% Intro to Educational Psych 155 19% Financial Accounting 177 13% Chemistry 126 13% American Literature 426 12%

DSST Pass Rates

DSST Civilian Pass Rates 2017 Test Name Test Volume Pass Rate General Anthropology 20 100% Principles of Supervision 239 95% Criminal Justice 60 93% Introduction to World Religions 190 93% Personal Finance 120 93% A History of The Vietnam War 61 92% Management Information Systems 44 91% History of The Soviet Union 29 90% Introduction to Business 103 89% Technical Writing 73 89% Human Resource Management 78 88% Lifespan Developmental Psychology 67 85% Computing & Information Technology 98 85% Ethics in America 136 83% Money and Banking 51 82% Health & Human Development 297 81% Substance Abuse 345 80% Human Cultural Geography 42 79% Business Ethics and Society 82 74% Introduction to Law Enforcement 125 74% Principles of Finance 29 72% Organizational Behavior 134 71% Astronomy 70 70% Environmental Science 121 67% Fundamentals of Cyber Security 21 67% Foundations of Education 172 64% The Civil War and Reconstruction 78 63% Business Mathematics 10 60% Principles of Statistics 67 58% Principles of Public Speaking* 53 53% Prin. of Advanced English Comp 37 51% Art in The Western World 42 33% Fundamentals of Counseling 74 26% Principles of Physical Science I 4 25% Fundamentals of College Algebra 26 23% Math for Liberal Arts 24 21%

DSST Military Pass Rates 2017 Test Name Test Volume Pass Rate Principles of Supervision 13013 97% Introduction to Business 1240 77% Computing & Information Technology 2202 74% Health & Human Development 709 72% Business Ethics and Society 660 69% Management Information Systems 370 67% Personal Finance 236 66% Organizational Behavior 4482 60% Principles of Public Speaking* 1900 55% Environmental Science 529 53% Introduction to Law Enforcement 341 51% Lifespan Developmental Psychology 332 51% Technical Writing 420 50% Introduction to World Religions 1000 49% Ethics in America 1457 47% Astronomy 309 47% Fundamentals of Cyber Security 334 43% Criminal Justice 257 43% Substance Abuse 752 43% Money & Banking 141 41% General Anthropology 213 41% History of The Soviet Union 310 39% A History of The Vietnam War 553 38% Foundations of Education 74 36% Principles of Physical Science I 145 34% Principles of Statistics 551 33% Prin. of Advanced English Comp 1189 33% Human Cultural Geography 353 32% The Civil War and Reconstruction 417 32% Human Resource Management 1987 26% Fundamentals of Counseling 202 22% Principles of Finance 215 18% Fundamentals of College Algebra 822 16% Business Mathematics 73 14% Art in The Western World 99 6% Math For Liberal Arts 410 3%

* It’s unclear whether the Public Speaking exam includes those who took the speaking portion of the exam.

What’s the difference between civilian and military pass rates?

Many military members are able to take CLEP and DSST exams for free. Because of this, military test takers are more likely to attempt exams ‘cold’ or with minimal studying. While this isn’t true across the board, it explains the overall lower pass rates for military vs civilian test takers.