Lafayette College awards credit from College Board Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Cambridge General Certificate of Education (GCE/A-levels) as outlined below.

 

Credit cannot be reviewed or awarded until official exam results/ transcripts are received directly from the testing organization. 

Students are not eligible to receive both exam credit and institutional credit for the same course. If a student wishes to take a course at Lafayette for which exam credit was awarded, the student may request in writing to the Registrar’s Office that the credit for the exam be rescinded. Credit for the exam will not be restored if the student persists in the class through the add/drop period in the semester of enrollment, even in cases where the student does not successfully complete the course (i.e withdraws or fails). Note the following for exam credits which merit 2 institutional credits:

  • MATH 161 and 162: These courses must be taken in sequence. Students can elect to either retain / rescind credit for both courses, or retain credit for MATH 161 but rescind credit for MATH 162 in order to take the course.
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AP Exam Credit

  • Lafayette participates in the Advanced Placement examination program of the College Board. Candidates interested in receiving course credit and placement in advanced classes should take the AP examinations given in May of each year (during high school).
  • A score of either 4 or 5 on most examinations, and 3 or above on selected others, will earn course credit and advanced placement. The Lafayette faculty determine score assignments each spring/summer.
  • Lafayette cannot grant any AP credit without possession of the official AP score report from the College Board.

2024-2025 AP Award Policy

TESTSCORECREDITCOURSENOTE
Art History4, 51Elective in ArtG
Art: Drawing, 2-D or 3-D Art and Design4, 51Elective in Art
Biology51BIOL 111
Calculus AB (test year 2020-2021)4, 51MATH 125K, L
Calculus AB (test year 2022)4, 51MATH 161K, L
Calculus BC (test year 2020-2021)3, 4, 51MATH 125K, L
Calculus BC (test year 2022)31MATH 161K, L
Calculus BC (test year 2022)4, 52MATH 161, MATH 162K, L
Chemistry (test year 2020 and beyond)4, 51CHEM 107
Chinese Language and Culture3, 4, 51CHN 102 or
CHN 112
C
Computer Science A4, 51CS 102F
Economics (Macroeconomics + Microeconomics)4, 51ECON 101A
English Language or Literature4, 51Elective in EnglishB, G
Environmental Science4, 51Elective in Environmental ScienceH, I
European History4, 51Elective in HistoryJ
French Language and Culture3, 4, 51FREN 102 or FREN 112C
German Language and Culture3, 4, 51GERM 102 or GERM 112C
Govt. & Politics: Comparative4, 51GOVT 103
Govt. & Politics: U. S.4, 51GOVT 101
Italian Language and Culture3, 4, 51ITAL 102 or ITAL 112C
Japanese Language and Culture3, 4, 51JAPN 102 or JAPN 112C
Latin3 ,4, 51LAT 102 or LAT 112C
Music Theory4, 51MUS 121

Physics 14, 51PHYS 111B, D
Physics 24, 51PHYS 112B, D
Physics C: Mechanics4, 51PHYS 131B
Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism4, 51PHYS 133B
Psychology4, 51Elective in PsychologyE
Spanish Language or Literature3, 4, 5 1SPAN 102 or SPAN 112C
Statistics (test year 2019 or earlier; 2021 and beyond)4, 51MATH 186
Statistics (test year 2020 only)4, 51MATH 110
United States History4, 51Elective in HistoryJ
World History4, 51Elective in HistoryJ

NOTES:

A – Must earn score of 4 or higher on both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.

B – Same course.  (Cannot receive credit for PHYS 111 & 131/151 and 112 & 133/152.) (Only one credit awarded in English.)

C – Satisfies the Elementary Proficiency in a Second Language requirement. (Maximum 1 credit per language.)

D – Engineering majors will not be awarded credit for PHYS 111, PHYS 112.

E – Course is not equivalent to PSYC 110, and does not meet the Natural Science requirement in the Common Course of Study.

F – Course is equivalent to an Intro Computer Science course (104 or 105 or 106), but does not meet Natural Science CCS requirement. Students are not eligible to take CS 104/105/106 if credit is earned for CS 102.

G – Course meets the Humanities requirement in the Common Course of Study.

H – Course does not meet the natural lab science requirement.

I – Course is not equivalent to either EVST 100 or GEOL 110.

J – Elective credit cannot be applied in major.

K – A student who wishes to place themselves in their first mathematics course without having credit earned in the necessary prerequisite course(s) (Mathematics 161 and/or Mathematics 162 and/or Mathematics 263) must first pass the credit exam(s) offered by the Department of Mathematics. Credit will NOT be awarded for such exams until the student has passed the subsequent course for which they have registered.

L – Students may not earn credit for both MATH 125 + MATH 161 through AP and/or department credit exams.

Back to AP Award Policy

IB Exam Credit

  • The official results of the higher-level (HL) examination of the International Baccalaureate are considered for academic course credit at Lafayette College. No credit is awarded for standard/subsidiary-level (SL) examinations.
  • Acceptable score levels for the IB program are 5 or higher in most subjects. Each department will determine the specific amount of credit.
  • The full IB Diploma may qualify the holder for additional credit.

2024-2025 IB Award Policy

TESTSCORECREDITCOURSENOTE
Language A Literature (Instruction in English)5, 6, 71Elective in English1
Language A Language & Literature (Instruction in English)5, 6, 71Elective in English1
Language B (Foreign Language)5, 6, 71[Language] 102 (5) or 112 (6, 7)12
Biology5, 6, 71BIOL 111
Chemistry5, 6, 71CHEM 107
Classical Languages (Latin or Classical Greek)5, 6, 71[Language] 102 (5) or 112 (6, 7)1
Computer Science5, 6, 71CS 1023
Economics5, 6, 71ECON 101
Film5, 6, 71Elective in Film & Media Studies
Global Politics5, 6, 71GOVT 102
History: Africa and Middle East5, 6, 71Elective in History4
History: Americas5, 6, 71Elective in History4
History: Asia and Oceania5, 6, 71Elective in History4
History: Europe5, 6, 71Elective in History4
Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches5, 6, 71MATH 161
Mathematics: Applications and Interpretations5, 6, 71MATH 161
Music5, 6, 71Elective in Music
Philosophy5, 6, 71Elective in Philosophy
Physics5, 6, 71PHYS 1115
Psychology5, 6, 71Elective in Psychology6
Social and Cultural Anthropology5, 6, 71Elective in Anthropology & Sociology
Theatre5, 6, 71THTR 101
Visual Arts5, 6, 71Elective in Art

NOTES:

1 – Only one credit awarded in English.

2 – Satisfies the Elementary Proficiency in a Second Language requirement. (Maximum 1 credit awarded per language.)

3 – Course is equivalent to an Intro Computer Science course (104 or 105 or 106), but does not meet Natural Science requirement in the Common Course of Study. Students are not eligible to take CS 104/105/106 if credit is earned for CS102.

4 – Elective credit cannot be applied in major.

5 – Engineering majors will not be awarded credit for PHYS 111.

6 – Course is not equivalent to PSYC 110, and does not meet the Natural Science requirement in the Common Course of Study.

Back to IB Award Policy

GCE A-Levels Exam Credit

  • GCE A-levels are reviewed on a course by course basis; however, to be considered for credit, the course must have been taken at the advanced level and only a grade of A(a) will be accepted. Courses taken at the subsidiary level will not be considered regardless of grade.

CLEP Exam Credit

  • Lafayette College does not award credit for the CLEP examination.