Students from CCS-Whiteville during one of the school’s annual FASTAR competitions. Photo courtesy of CCS-America.
UNC system institutions now accept the Classic Learning Test (CLT) as a college entrance exam and alternative to the ACT or SAT. This is big news for our high schoolers attending public charter schools with a classical focus!
We wanted to spread the news–and we heard it first from Classical Charter Schools of America‘s newsletter. In partnership with the Roger Bacon Academy, CCS-A runs a network of charter schools in North Carolina, including CCS-Leland, CCS-Whiteville, CCS-Southport, and CCS-Wilmington.
Here’s the update on CLT from Jessica Lopez, dean of classical humanities at CCS-A:
A college admissions test measuring skills that are emphasized in classic curricula just got the nod from the University of North Carolina (UNC). The test, known as the Classic Learning Test or CLT, targets critical thinking, grammar reasoning, classic writings, and traditional math. These vital skills contrast with the common core and progressive education ideas tested in the SAT and ACT tests.
The CLT is now accepted by all 16 UNC institutions, and this gives our classically educated students a distinct edge for scoring higher on this admissions test.
We led North Carolina with our classically oriented application in 1999. In 2024, we first took the CLT8 and finished in the top 20 schools nationwide. The other top 20 finishers were all high-tuition private schools, unlike our tuition-free CCS-America schools.
The next year 2025, our classic educated eighth-grade Leland and Whiteville students led the nation by achieving first and third places on the CLT8 test. The CLT8 previews the CLT admissions test and confirms that our students are blazing a pathway for their success.
The CLT is accepted by a number of other state university systems, all the United States military academies, and more than 300 institutions overall.
- Learn about Classical Charter Schools of America’s curriculum.
- Read about UNC’s decision on the CLT from the Charlotte Observer or ABC 11.
CCS-America schools are Coalition member schools.
