Is Modern States actually free, or is there a catch?

The courses, course materials, and the CLEP exam voucher itself are all free, with no income requirement and no school affiliation needed -- Modern States is a nonprofit and covers the $97 CLEP exam fee directly. The one cost that isn't covered is a test center's own administration fee, which some (not all) testing centers charge on top of the exam itself.

Who is eligible for a free CLEP voucher from Modern States?

Anyone 13 or older can create a free account at register.modernstates.org and enroll in any course, with no school enrollment, income, or U.S.-residency requirement. International students can use the courses too, but since CLEP exams must be taken at an approved test center, they should confirm center availability in their location first.

What score do I need to earn the voucher, and can I retake if I don't hit it?

You need an average of at least 75% across a course's quizzes and at least 75% on its final exam. If you don't clear that threshold on the first attempt, Modern States allows you to retake the quizzes and final exam.

How to Get a Free CLEP Exam Through Modern States

Free CLEP prep and a free exam voucher both exist, through a specific nonprofit program -- not a loophole or a limited-time promotion. CLEP normally costs $97 per exam, and Modern States, a nonprofit founded by education philanthropist Steve Klinsky, covers that fee for anyone who completes one of its free online courses.

How the voucher actually works

Modern States offers 32 free, self-paced online courses, each one built to align with a specific CLEP exam and taught by professors from four-year colleges. To earn a voucher, you need to average at least 75% on a course's quizzes and score at least 75% on its final exam -- if you don't clear that bar on the first try, you can retake both. Once you pass, Modern States issues a CLEP exam voucher that covers the $97 exam fee, which you enter directly during registration at the College Board's myclep.collegeboard.org. From there the process is the same as any other CLEP exam: register through College Board, then sit the exam at an approved test center.

What it actually costs you

Course materials, including digital textbooks, are free -- there's nothing to buy to take a Modern States course. The voucher covers the CLEP exam fee itself, but not necessarily everything a test center charges: some (not all) testing centers add their own administration fee on top of the exam, which a learner pays separately and which Modern States doesn't reimburse.

Who's eligible

There's no school enrollment, income threshold, or state residency requirement. Anyone 13 or older can create a free account at register.modernstates.org and enroll in as many of the 32 courses as they want, at their own pace -- some learners finish a course in a few days, others take several months. International students can use the courses too, though since CLEP exams themselves must be taken at an approved test center, it's worth confirming center availability in your location before counting on the exam side of the plan.

Which subjects are covered

The 32 courses map one-to-one onto CLEP's own exam list, spanning the same five categories: Social Sciences & History (American Government, U.S. History I and II, Western Civilization I and II, Psychology, Human Growth and Development, Sociology, Macro- and Microeconomics), Mathematics (College Algebra, College Mathematics, Calculus, Precalculus), Science & Technology (Biology, Chemistry, Natural Sciences, Information Systems), Business & Management (Financial Accounting, Principles of Management, Principles of Marketing, Introductory Business Law), and Languages & Literature (English Literature, American Literature, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, plus Spanish, French, and German). That's every CLEP subject our CLEP overview covers except for the standalone College Composition Modular variant -- if you're deciding between two of CLEP's five English exams specifically, Modern States has a free course for whichever one you land on.

The real reason this matters for credit, not just cost

Getting the exam for free doesn't change whether a given college grants credit for it -- CLEP acceptance and required scores still vary meaningfully more school to school than AP does, and most colleges set their own minimum passing score (commonly 50 on CLEP's 20-80 scale) rather than using a single universal cutoff. Modern States' own CLEP Acceptance Tool can check whether a specific college accepts CLEP credit, but confirming the required score for your specific target school directly with that school is still the reliable way to know a passing exam will actually turn into credit.

What this means for you

Start with the course, not the exam. The voucher is only issued after you clear the 75% quiz average and 75% final-exam thresholds inside a Modern States course -- there's no way to get the free voucher without completing the course first.
Budget for a possible test-center admin fee. The voucher covers CLEP's $97 exam fee, not any separate administration fee your specific test center might charge.
Pick courses that map to subjects you're already motivated to learn, especially ones your high school doesn't offer as AP -- Modern States covers CLEP's full subject range, including business subjects AP doesn't touch at all.
Confirm your target college's specific CLEP policy before counting on credit, using Modern States' CLEP Acceptance Tool as a first check and the school's own catalog as the final word.