BHT Challenge Exams & Standardized Exams

According to the current CNM Catalog, challenge exams are only available to applicants and currently enrolled students who wish to establish CNM credit for a specific course.

Challenge exams are not available for all courses. See the Challenge Exam Request Form for available BHT departmental challenge exams. Other postsecondary institutions may not accept course credit granted via challenge exams. If you plan to transfer away from CNM, consider taking CLEP exams.

Available BHT Challenge Exams

Challenge exams taken through BHT give both the applicants and present students the chance to obtain credit(s) for knowledge they poses in the field of exams we offer.

• ACCT 2110 (Principles of Accounting I)
• BUSA 1110 (Introduction to Business)
• BUSA 1115 (Business English) 
• BUSA 1180 (Business Math)
• CIS 1220 (Programming Fundamentals)
• OTEC 1101 (Keyboarding)

Available BHT Standardized Exams

Standardized exams are another way to quickly complete your degree or certificate. Learn about the process to earn college credit by reading more information about Standardized Exams.

BHT Offers the IT 1010 Industry Certification Exam (IC3) and College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams.

Challenge Exam Restrictions

• A student must meet the course prerequisites.
• A student may attempt a challenge exam only once per course.
• A grade of Credit (CR) will be recorded upon the student’s completion of CNM credit coursework in the same or subsequent term. The challenge exam credit is posted at the end of the term the exam is taken if the student is currently enrolled. If the exam is taken during the term break, it will be considered to have been taken in the “next” term.
• Courses successfully challenged do count toward both program requirements and CNM's graduation residency requirement.

Challenge Exam Fee

There is a fee for each challenge exam. Read more information about the cost for challenge exams.

BHT Process and Requirements

• Challenge exams measure your knowledge or skill of the course content, and the exam results are not discussed with you. No guidance material is available for tests; you may review required textbooks for the course you are challenging. 
• The minimum passing score for a challenge exam is 80 percent.
• For keyboarding challenges, this is expressed in WPM, with 7 or fewer errors.
• If the challenge exam has more than one part, you must complete each subsequent part within two weeks from the date you completed Part I of the challenge exam.
• When you are ready to challenge the class, you must complete a Request for Challenge Form which includes acknowledgement that you meet the CNM requirements as well as understand the School of Business, Hospitality & Technology process and procedure. 
• Once the Permit for Credit by Examination is approved, you will be notified to pick up the paperwork. Notification will be made only to your CNM email. The exam must be taken within 35 days of the notification that the challenge has been approved, otherwise the exam will be removed from the testing site. 
• If you challenge a course in which you are currently enrolled and the challenge is granted, you must drop the course before the official final drop deadline printed in the Schedule of Classes for that course (see Schedule of Classes for official drop dates).  Two drop dates are listed.  You must drop by the "Last Day to drop without a 'W'" deadline or a "W" will appear on your transcript. When you drop the course, the course credit hours are not counted as part of your course load for the term.
• Dropping a challenge exam may affect Financial Aid. If you do not drop the course, the Challenge will be considered to be denied, regardless of the Challenge exam results and the “earned” grade for the enrolled course will be used.