CLEP Humanities Exam Prep Course | 650+ Practice Questions
CLEP® Exam Prep 3 College Credits Literature 50% · Arts 50% · Passing Score 50

CLEP Humanities Exam Prep Course

Full course with 650+ practice questions and a practice exam

Self-paced prep for the CLEP Humanities exam. 20 chapters covering literature and the arts across every period the exam tests, with a quiz after every subchapter. About 140 questions in 90 minutes. A score of 50 earns 3 transferable college credits.

Start studying — $19 About the exam
50Passing score
2,900+Colleges accept CLEP
5–8 wksTypical study time
CLEP Humanities prep course
  • Backup ACE/NCCRS credit path — earn the credit even if you don't pass
  • Lifetime access — no deadlines, no expiry, study at your own pace
  • Credits accepted at 2,900+ U.S. colleges
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Pricing

$19 for this course with lifetime access, or $29 a month for all 28 CLEP subjects. Every plan also unlocks the ACE/NCCRS course closest to this subject.

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$19
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Humanities prep only
  • All 20 chapters and 116 lessons
  • Five-question quiz after every subchapter
  • Readiness score tracker
  • Literature, art, music and film in one course
  • Lifetime access, no expiry
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All 28 CLEP prep courses included
  • All 28 CLEP prep courses
  • Every chapter, lesson and quiz
  • Readiness tracker per subject
  • Backup ACE/NCCRS credit path
  • Cancel or pause anytime
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12-month ACE/NCCRS included
  • Lifetime access to all 28 subjects
  • All current and future courses
  • 12-month ACE/NCCRS backup path
  • Pay once, never renew
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What are ACE and NCCRS?

Two independent bodies that review online courses and recommend them for college credit. The American Council on Education (ACE) and the National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS) put courses through faculty panels that assess rigor and learning outcomes, then publish a credit recommendation. When you complete one, the credentialing body issues an official transcript you send to your college — the same kind of transfer credit a student moving from another university would bring with them.

  • Reviewed by faculty panels, not by the course provider
  • Official transcript issued on completion
  • Recognized at 2,100+ colleges, many of which also take CLEP and DSST
ACE vs NCCRS explained How ACE/NCCRS credit works

Both routes, one plan

Buying CLEP Humanities prep also opens the ACE/NCCRS course closest to this subject — Critical Thinking and Analysis — at no extra cost. So exam day isn't the only way through. If the score doesn't land, the course is already sitting in your account: complete it self-paced, no proctor and no 90-minute timer, and earn the three credits through coursework instead.

  • Critical Thinking and Analysis: 3 semester hours through coursework
  • Unlocked automatically — no extra fee, no application
  • CLEP can still be retaken after three months

Each college sets its own transfer policy, so confirm yours accepts the route you plan to use.

Check your college's policy before you buy. We keep 280+ school pages listing accepted exams, required scores and credits awarded.

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CLEP Humanities exam format and topics

The exam tests general knowledge of literature, art, music and the other performing arts, with questions evenly spread across the classical, medieval and Renaissance, 17th- and 18th-century, 19th-century and 20th-century periods. About 140 questions in 90 minutes, some of them unscored pretest items. Pass mark is 50.

CLEP Humanities content areas by exam weighting
Content area Weighting Questions What it covers
Visual arts: painting, sculpture, etc. 20% ≈28 Major works, artists, media and styles from ancient to modern art
Fiction 15–20% ≈21–28 Novels and short fiction from many periods and traditions
Performing arts: music 15% ≈21 Composers, forms, instruments and styles from chant to jazz
Poetry 10–15% ≈14–21 Poets, forms, rhyme and meter, and interpretation of poems
Drama 10% ≈14 Playwrights and plays from Greek tragedy to modern drama
Nonfiction (including philosophy) 10% ≈14 Essays and philosophy from the Greeks to the present
Performing arts: film, dance, etc. 10% ≈14 Ballet, modern dance, film history and film technique
Visual arts: architecture 5% ≈7 Styles and landmark buildings from classical to contemporary
8 content areas 100% ≈140 About 140 questions · 90 minutes · score 50 for an ACE recommendation of 3 semester hours

Literature and the arts are 50% each. By skill, about 50% of questions test factual knowledge, 30% test recognition of techniques and styles, and 20% ask you to interpret unfamiliar passages and artworks.

How hard is the exam?

About 140 questions in 90 minutes is under 40 seconds each, the fastest pace of any CLEP exam, and the range is enormous: poetry, philosophy, painting, architecture, music, film and dance from ancient Greece to the 20th century. College Board itself notes that no one is likely to know every field well. Half the questions are straight recall of authors, works and artists, so broad familiarity pays off more than depth.

  • About 140 questions in 90 minutes — under 40 seconds each
  • Literature and the arts are 50% each
  • Half the questions are recall — aim for breadth

Exam fee and booking

Register with College Board for $97. Test centers may add an administration fee. You can test at a center or remotely with a proctor, year-round. Scores are reported immediately for multiple-choice exams, and you send them to your college yourself.

  • Passing score 50, for 3 semester hours
  • Retake permitted after three months
  • Free for active-duty military via DANTES

Questions are spread evenly across five periods, from classical to the 20th century, so the course covers each art form across all of them.

Check your college

Course chapters and lessons

20 chapters across 66 instructional hours. Expand any chapter to see the lessons inside it.

20Chapters
116Lessons
580+Quiz questions
100Practice final questions
66 hrsInstructional hours
20 chapters  ·  116 lessons  ·  1 practice final exam
Chapter 1 How to Look at Art: Form, Content and Iconography 3 lessons · 2 hrs
  1. 1.1 What is Art? Form and Content

    What art is, and how to analyze form and read iconography — the skills behind the questions on unfamiliar artworks.

  2. 1.2 Iconographic Analysis: Understanding Iconography
  3. 1.3 Formal Analysis: Understanding Visual Form
Chapter 2 Reading Literature: Terms and Techniques 5 lessons · 2.5 hrs
  1. 2.1 Rhyme Scheme, Meter and Poetic Forms

    Rhyme scheme, meter, poetic forms, figurative language, narrative technique and style — how to recognize a writer, school or period.

  2. 2.2 Figurative Language
  3. 2.3 Narrative Techniques
  4. 2.4 Recognizing a Writer's Style
  5. 2.5 Interpreting Unfamiliar Passages
Chapter 3 Classical Literature and Drama 5 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 3.1 Homer and the Epic

    Homer, Greek tragedy and comedy, Aristotle's Poetics, Virgil, Ovid and Sappho.

  2. 3.2 Greek Tragedy: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides
  3. 3.3 Greek Comedy and Aristotle's Poetics
  4. 3.4 Virgil, Ovid and Roman Literature
  5. 3.5 Sappho and Classical Lyric Poetry
Chapter 4 The Emergence of Classical Philosophy 3 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 4.1 Historiography and the History of Philosophy

    Classical philosophy and its Jewish, Christian and Islamic successors.

  2. 4.2 Classical Philosophy
  3. 4.3 Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Philosophy
Chapter 5 Medieval and Renaissance Literature 6 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 5.1 Dante's Divine Comedy

    Dante, Chaucer, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Montaigne.

  2. 5.2 Chaucer and Boccaccio
  3. 5.3 Petrarch and the Sonnet
  4. 5.4 Cervantes and Don Quixote
  5. 5.5 Shakespeare's Plays
  6. 5.6 Montaigne and the Essay
Chapter 6 Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Literature 5 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 6.1 Milton and the Metaphysical Poets

    Milton, Molière, Swift, Pope, Voltaire and the rise of the novel.

  2. 6.2 Molière and French Neoclassical Drama
  3. 6.3 Swift, Pope and Satire
  4. 6.4 Voltaire and the Enlightenment
  5. 6.5 The Rise of the Novel
Chapter 7 Nineteenth-Century Literature 5 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 7.1 Romantic Poetry: Wordsworth, Keats and Goethe

    Romantic poetry, the realist novel, Dostoevsky, Ibsen, and Whitman, Dickinson and Twain.

  2. 7.2 The Realist Novel: Austen, Dickens, Flaubert and Tolstoy
  3. 7.3 Dostoevsky
  4. 7.4 Ibsen and the Birth of Modern Drama
  5. 7.5 Whitman, Dickinson and Twain
Chapter 8 Twentieth-Century Literature 5 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 8.1 Modernist Fiction: Joyce, Woolf, Kafka and Faulkner

    Modernist fiction and poetry, modern drama, and postcolonial and contemporary writers — completing literature, 50% of the exam.

  2. 8.2 Modern Poetry: Eliot, Yeats and Frost
  3. 8.3 Modern Drama: Chekhov, Beckett, Miller and Williams
  4. 8.4 Postcolonial and World Literature
  5. 8.5 Contemporary Fiction
Chapter 9 Contemporary Philosophies and Social Theories 5 lessons · 5 hrs
  1. 9.1 Enlightenment Social Theory

    Enlightenment social theory, Marxism, and continental and contemporary philosophy.

  2. 9.2 The Marxist Solution
  3. 9.3 Continental Philosophy's Challenge to Enlightenment Theories
  4. 9.4 The Frankfurt School
  5. 9.5 Postmodernism
Chapter 10 Classical Art and Architecture 5 lessons · 2.5 hrs
  1. 10.1 Egyptian Art

    Egyptian art, Greek sculpture and architecture, and Roman building and portraiture.

  2. 10.2 Greek Sculpture
  3. 10.3 Greek Architecture and the Classical Orders
  4. 10.4 Roman Architecture and Engineering
  5. 10.5 Roman Portraiture
Chapter 11 Gothic Art 4 lessons · 2 hrs
  1. 11.1 Gothic Architecture

    Gothic architecture and cathedral art.

  2. 11.2 Southwell Minister
  3. 11.3 Salisbury Cathedral
  4. 11.4 Blanche of Castile
Chapter 12 The High Renaissance 14 lessons · 7 hrs
  1. 12.1 Art and Science in the Renaissance

    Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Venetian painting.

  2. 12.2 Toward the High Renaissance
  3. 12.3 Leonardo da Vinci Introduced
  4. 12.4 The Last Supper
  5. 12.5 Mona Lisa
  6. 12.6 Michelangelo Introduced
  7. 12.7 Moses
  8. 12.8 Sistine Chapel Ceiling
  9. 12.9 Sistine Chapel: Last Judgment
  10. 12.10 School of Athens
  11. 12.11 Alba Madonna
  12. 12.12 Saint Peter's Basilica
  13. 12.13 Introduction to Venetian Painting
  14. 12.14 Veronese, Feast in the House of Levi
Chapter 13 Baroque Art 5 lessons · 2 hrs
  1. 13.1 Introduction to the Baroque

    Bernini, Caravaggio and the Italian Baroque.

  2. 13.2 Baroque Art in Italy
  3. 13.3 Bernini's David
  4. 13.4 Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa
  5. 13.5 Caravaggio's Deposition
Chapter 14 Romanticism in Art 9 lessons · 4 hrs
  1. 14.1 Introduction to Romanticism

    Delacroix, Géricault, Ingres, Goya and Constable.

  2. 14.2 Liberty Leading the People
  3. 14.3 Understanding Delacroix's Painterly Techniques
  4. 14.4 Portraits of the Insane
  5. 14.5 Apotheosis of Homer
  6. 14.6 Madame Riviere
  7. 14.7 Third of May, 1808
  8. 14.8 Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
  9. 14.9 Constable, The Haywain
Chapter 15 Impressionism and Post-Impressionism 6 lessons · 2.5 hrs
  1. 15.1 Manet and the Birth of Modern Painting

    Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Cassatt, Seurat, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Rodin.

  2. 15.2 Monet, Renoir and the Impressionist Method
  3. 15.3 Degas, Morisot and Cassatt
  4. 15.4 Seurat and Pointillism
  5. 15.5 Cézanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin
  6. 15.6 Rodin and Late Nineteenth-Century Sculpture
Chapter 16 Early Modern Art: Fauvism, Cubism, Dada and Futurism 11 lessons · 5 hrs
  1. 16.1 Introduction to Fauvism

    Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Dada and Futurism — completing the visual arts, 20% of the exam.

  2. 16.2 Matisse, Bonheur de Vivre
  3. 16.3 Matisse, The Red Studio
  4. 16.4 Picasso, Still Life with Chair Caning
  5. 16.5 Picasso's Early Works
  6. 16.6 Picasso, Portrait of Gertrude Stein
  7. 16.7 Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
  8. 16.8 Braque, The Portuguese
  9. 16.9 Braque, The Viaduct at L'Estaque
  10. 16.10 Hoch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife
  11. 16.11 An Introduction to Futurism
Chapter 17 Architecture Through the Ages 5 lessons · 2.5 hrs
  1. 17.1 Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals

    Cathedrals, Renaissance and Baroque buildings, revival styles, modern masters and contemporary architecture — 5% of the exam.

  2. 17.2 Renaissance and Baroque Architecture
  3. 17.3 Neoclassical and Revival Styles
  4. 17.4 Modern Architecture: Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe
  5. 17.5 Postmodern and Contemporary Architecture
Chapter 18 Music: Elements and Early Music to 1750 5 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 18.1 Melody, Harmony, Rhythm and Form

    The elements of music, the orchestra, chant and polyphony, Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, and early opera.

  2. 18.2 Instruments and the Orchestra
  3. 18.3 Medieval Chant and Renaissance Polyphony
  4. 18.4 Baroque Music: Bach, Handel and Vivaldi
  5. 18.5 The Birth of Opera
Chapter 19 Music from the Classical Era to Today 5 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 19.1 The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven

    Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, the Romantics, modernist composers, jazz, the musical and world music — music is 15% of the exam.

  2. 19.2 Romantic Music: Schubert, Chopin, Wagner and Verdi
  3. 19.3 Twentieth-Century Music: Debussy, Stravinsky and Schoenberg
  4. 19.4 Jazz, Blues and the American Musical
  5. 19.5 Popular and World Music
Chapter 20 Dance and Film 5 lessons · 3 hrs
  1. 20.1 Ballet from Louis XIV to Balanchine

    Ballet, modern dance, silent film and the studio system, film technique, and great directors — 10% of the exam.

  2. 20.2 Modern Dance: Duncan, Graham and Beyond
  3. 20.3 Silent Film and the Studio System
  4. 20.4 Film Language: Shots, Editing and Genre
  5. 20.5 Great Directors and World Cinema
Practice exam Practice final exam 100 questions
  1. Practice final exam — 100 multiple-choice questions

    A full-length practice final that mirrors the exam's content areas and question style. Your score feeds the readiness tracker, so you know when you're ready to book the real exam.

These chapters make up the CLEP Humanities exam prep class. They cover literature and the arts across every period on the official exam outline, and some topics go further than the exam requires.

Take the CLEP exam for the fastest route to 3 credits. If it doesn't go your way, your plan also includes a backup course that earns the credit through coursework.

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Colleges that accept CLEP Humanities

CLEP is recognized at more than 2,900 U.S. colleges, but each one sets its own minimum score and decides how many credit hours to award. Check yours before you book the exam.

Find my college Search 280+ school pages for CLEP policy, accepted exams, minimum scores and credit hours.
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Which CLEP exams the school accepts Minimum score required Credit hours awarded CLEP institution code ACE and NCCRS status

Browse college credit policies

University of Virginia38 exams accepted Cleveland State University36 exams accepted Keuka College36 exams accepted Heritage University35 exams accepted College of Central Florida33 exams accepted Olympic College32 exams accepted Commonwealth University of PA32 exams accepted Clayton State University29 exams accepted Mercy UniversityCLEP credit policy Reinhardt University17 exams accepted

Browse all colleges

Policies change. Every college page lists the date the policy was checked, and we recommend confirming minimum scores and credit awards with the Registrar before you schedule an exam. TransferCredit.org is an independent education service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the institutions listed.

Practice tests and study guides

Five questions in the style of the CLEP Humanities exam, drawn from the chapters above. No sign-up needed — see where you stand before you buy.

Question 1 of 5
Take the full practice test Open the study guides
580+ quiz questions across 116 subchapters 100-question practice final Readiness tracker Written guide for every content area Unlimited retakes

Frequently asked questions

What is the passing score for CLEP Humanities?
The credit-granting score is 50. At a score of 50 or above, the American Council on Education recommends 3 semester hours of credit. Each college sets its own policy, so confirm the score and credit hours your school awards.
How many questions are on the CLEP Humanities exam?
About 140 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, the most of any CLEP exam. Some are unscored pretest questions.
How much does the CLEP Humanities exam cost?
The exam fee is $97, paid to College Board. Test centers may add a separate administration fee. Active-duty military can take CLEP exams at no cost through DANTES. TransferCredit prep is $19 for lifetime access to this subject.
What topics are on the CLEP Humanities exam?
Literature (50%): drama 10%, poetry 10–15%, fiction 15–20% and nonfiction including philosophy 10%. The arts (50%): painting and sculpture 20%, architecture 5%, music 15%, and film and dance 10%.
Is the CLEP Humanities exam hard?
It's broad and fast: about 140 questions in 90 minutes on everything from Greek drama to jazz. Most people know some fields well and others hardly at all, so preparation means filling gaps. Most students prepare in five to eight weeks.
Which periods does CLEP Humanities cover?
Questions are spread fairly evenly across the classical period, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the 17th and 18th centuries, the 19th century, and the 20th century.
Which colleges accept CLEP Humanities for credit?
CLEP is accepted at more than 2,900 U.S. colleges and universities. Humanities usually satisfies a general humanities or fine arts distribution requirement. Check your own institution's policy before booking.
How long should I study for CLEP Humanities?
Five to eight weeks of consistent study is typical. Start with the fields you know least, take the subchapter quizzes, and use the readiness tracker to decide when to book.
Does CLEP Humanities include non-Western art and literature?
Yes. At least 5–10% of the questions draw on other cultures, such as African, Asian and Latin American. Some questions also cross disciplines or periods.
Does CLEP Humanities use BCE and CE dates?
Yes. The exam uses b.c.e. (before the common era) and c.e. (common era), which correspond to B.C. and A.D. in some textbooks.
What happens if I fail the CLEP Humanities exam?
You can retake a CLEP exam after three months. Your TransferCredit plan also includes a backup ACE/NCCRS humanities course, Critical Thinking and Analysis, which awards credit through coursework with no exam required.
Does CLEP Humanities include philosophy?
Yes. Philosophy is tested as part of nonfiction, which is 10% of the exam.
Do I need to recognize artworks and music?
Yes. About 20% of questions ask you to interpret unfamiliar passages and art reproductions, and 30% ask you to recognize techniques and styles typical of certain artists, writers or periods.