How do Fast Track exams work?

The first step is to sign up for a Fast Track exam through your admissions advisor. They’ll make sure you are signed up for all of the exams that make sense for the life and work experience you have and are applicable to the program your are pursuing. Fast Track exams run weekly and there is no additional cost.

Once the exam opens, you’ll have a set period of time to complete the exam online. On average, each Fast Track exam takes 3-5 hours to complete. If you pass the exam, course credit is applied to your degree program within 24 hours. If you earn a score of 70% or higher, you’ll receive proficiency credit for the class, the course will be removed from your schedule, and you won’t have to pay the tuition for that course. If you score below a 70%, the course remains on your schedule as planned, but there is no penalty to your grade point average or academic standing.

You cannot re-take a Fast Track exam that you have attempted and not passed, however, you can take multiple Fast Track exams while enrolled at CTU.

Do Fast Track exams apply to any degree?

As a CTU student, you can apply specific Fast Track exams to a variety of associate and bachelor’s degree programs. Eligible programs include business, project management, information technology, and more.

Which Fast Track exams are offered?

Fast Track is offered for classes like math, English, and IT — many core classes which are required for CTU associate and bachelor’s programs.

See a list of available Fast Track exams by degree.

Ready to Fast Track your degree?

Take charge of your education — start now to see how you can apply what you already know to save time and money on your degree. Speak to an admissions advisor to see what Fast Track can do for you.

Additional ways to earn credit

In addition to Fast Track exams and earning credit at accredited postsecondary institutions, the following options are eligible for evaluation toward academic credit through CTU.

Our CTU Prior Learning Assessment evaluators can provide with degree planning assistance. Official transcripts and formal documents are required before evaluation of transfer credit can occur. CTU will provide unofficial evaluations based on unofficial transcripts, however, the evaluation cannot become official until we verify that your documents meet the established transfer credit criteria.

• Experiential Learning Portfolio (ELP): If you think you may qualify for experiential credit, start the process by contacting a Prior Learning Assessment Department to determine your eligibility. You will be asked to build an Experiential Learning Portfolio (ELP) that should establish a direct alignment with the course in which you want to obtain credit. The final portfolio is submitted to the Prior Learning Assessment Department and/or a Dean and assigned to a Program Chair for evaluation and determination of credit. An ELP is required for each course in which you believe you have experiential credit.
• Professional training/certification or military training: CTU uses American Council on Education (ACE) guidelines to determine if your prior training, experience or certifications are applicable to your degree program and eligible for proficiency credit equivalency requirements. This may include college credit for military experience, college credit for qualifying work experience, training with officially documented clock hours, continuing Education Units (CEUs), or other certified company training.
• CTU MOS Commitment: In addition to Fast Track, active and veteran military students can use their military occupational specialty code (MOS) to apply the skill and experience they gained while serving in the military. The CTU MOS Commitment provides members of the military with a personalized and comprehensive review of all eligible credit which includes the JST, all MOS codes held, any prior education and professional training or certifications. By including the MOS in this review, military members may be eligible to get more credit towards a degree and potentially earn a degree in less time. CTU has already calculated transfer credit for the top ten most frequently assigned MOS codes to make the review process as quick and seamless as possible.
• Standardized Assessment: You may be able to earn credit by demonstrating knowledge competency through standardized assessments, such as Advanced Placement (AP) examinations, CLEP examinations, or DSST examinations.
  Transfer credit: Some of our degree programs allow you to transfer credits from accredited schools other than CTU. Once your prior school(s) official transcripts have been received by CTU, we can determine if your credits can apply, and a Prior Learning Assessment evaluator will guide you through the transfer-in credits process.

Get Credit for Prior Life and Qualifying Work Experience

At Colorado Technical University, we realize that many of our students come to us with prior knowledge gained through work, the military, a trade school, an apprenticeship — whatever it may be. We’re doing what we can to take those life and work experiences and make them work for our students so that they can pursue the online degree they want in less time. One way we accomplish this for our students is through CTU Fast Track^™ exams.

Transfer credit is evaluated on an individual basis. Not all credits are eligible to transfer. See the University Catalog for transfer credit policies.