Placement

Your success as a college student depends, to a large degree, on enrolling in courses that match your abilities and skills.  Assessment includes testing, as well as other measures, and is intended to assist students in determining the best fit between your skills and class requirements.  In order to ensure proper Math and English course selections, students applying through CCCApply are assigned Milestone/Skill levels that will assist with choosing the right course.  If you have graduated more than 5 years ago from High School you may take a Placement Assistance test at the college Assessment Center.  New students to college should attend orientation.

 

PAST EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN MATHEMATICS OR ENGLISH

Students are exempt from the English and math placement tests if they have earned an Associate degree or higher, have completed English and math courses, or have received a qualifying score on an SAT, ACT, EPT, ELM or EAP test taken within the past two years.  Students should bring or send official copies of their SAT, ACT, EPT, ELM or EAP test scores directly to the District Student Services office to determine readiness for English 101 or 105 and for courses with a Math 096 prerequisite.  All tests must have been completed within the past 2 years.

Test	Minimum Score Required
SAT - ENGL	500
SAT - MATH	560
ACT - ENGL	22
ACT - MATH	23
EPT	151
ELM	50
EAP	English and/or Math College-Level Ready
Conditionally College-Level Ready does NOT meet the criteria

EAP status can be determined using a CAASPP Student Score Report.

Overall CAASPP Score	EAP Status
Standard Exceeded	English and/or Math College-Level Ready
Standard Met	Conditionally College-Level Ready*

*Students with Conditionally-Ready status can obtain College-Ready status by taking an approved English and/or math course in high school and earn a grade of ‘C’ or better during their senior year.

 

High School English Courses:	High School Math Courses:
Expository Reading & Writing Course (ERWC) AP Literature/Composition Weighted Honors English IB English	Trigonometry Math Analysis Pre-Calculus or Calculus AP Calculus AB or BC AP Physics AP Statistics

 

A qualifying score from the College Board Advanced Placement English or Math Exam may be taken directly to the college Counseling office for consideration. Please refer to the College Catalog for AP exam score requirements.

ASSESSMENT TESTS

Placement Assist Test are offered at City, Mesa and Miramar colleges.

• Placement Assistant
  While most students will be assessed at the time of college application, some students may need to take the Placement Assistant.  The Placement Assistant determines your English and Math skill level based upon your performance in high school.  Students who are already assessed through CCCApply cannot re-assess through Placement Assistant, those student may go through the challenge process.
  
  
• English Placement Test for Non-Native English Speakers (English Language Acquisition - ELAC)
  The ELAC Program is designed to prepare students to read, write, speak and listen at a level that enables them to succeed in college courses. If you are interested in taking ELAC classes, please take our self-guided assessment tool: ELAC Go at https://bit.ly/sdelacgo. This test is appropriate if English is not your primary language, you are not very comfortable with English, or if you speak, read, and write your native language most of the time. The program consists of four levels and the student is assigned a level based on the results of his or her placement test.

 

UNDERSTANDING THE RESULTS OF THE PLACEMENT TESTS

Depending on the tests you take, you will receive a Milestone/Skill level ranging from 30 to 50 in one or more of the following areas:

• Reading (R)
• Writing (W)
• ELAC (L)
• Math (M)

Use the following resources to determine what classes you are eligible to take based on your skill level: