> There's also college exams that have a similar function (CLEP is the acronym I think?) but they're not really highlighted as a preferred path to students. Th

> There's also college exams that have a similar function (CLEP is the acronym I think?) but they're not really highlighted as a preferred path to students. That's correct. But not all schools accept it, and if a school accepts it they may not accept all the different exams. (CLEP exams mostly cover general-ed subjects.) Most schools also have an in-house option to test-out of classes, but it may be up to the individual departments to determine whether they want to allow that. Schools may also disincentivise testing-out in other ways... When I wanted to test out of the intro-to-computers course which was, at the same, required of all students, I had to pay the normal per-unit fee (as if I had taken the course normally) plus a special "challenge fee".