Math Placement Information

If you have already taken a standardized math exam, you may have a math placement based on those results. We may be able to place you based on:

• SAT or ACT scores, within the last two years
• AP PreCalculus or Calculus AB/BC scores
• IB (AA or AI) HL scores
• International math exams such as A-levels or Cambridge

Please take our survey, available to anyone with a UST email account, to determine your math placement.

If your course requires a math placement and we don’t have another method to place you, the assessment
you’ll take is the ALEKS placement assessment. ALEKS Placement, Preparation and Learning is an external tool that we use to determine a student’s math placement.

• You’ll make an account at aleks.com using the instructions provided below.
  • Note: If you qualify for testing accommodations through Disability Resources, please reach out to us directly at MathPlacement@stthomas.edu. The account registration process may be different depending on the accommodations needed.
• Then you’ll take an online assessment from home using your own computer, webcam, and microphone. The assessment will be monitored with Respondus Monitoring software so we can ensure test security without requiring in-person proctoring.
• When you are done taking your initial assessment, you’ll be invited to join a Prep and Learning module. If you need to retake the assessment, you’ll use this module to prepare for your retake. This module will be tailored to your needs based on the results of your initial assessment.
• After studying for at least 5 hours in your module, you have the option to retake the assessment – up to a total of 5 attempts. If you plan to retake the assessment, we recommend that you do not put this off. It’s in your best interest to complete the math placement process while the material from your most recent math class is still fresh in your mind.

Each Monday, the Math Placement team will begin the process of validating scores from the previous week’s assessments. This is when the math placement team will watch the videos of recent test sessions and make sure that all the requirements are met. This process can take up to one week. Please plan accordingly and be patient. Once we have analyzed your test session, we will email you to let you know if your score was accepted.

We only proceed with the validation process when the student receives a score that is high enough to potentially result in an increase of math placement level. If your score would not improve your math placement level, we don’t proceed with the validation process and instead we encourage you to try again.

If your score is validated, we will manually update Banner with your new math placement so that you can register for courses. If you would like to try for a still higher score (and you have additional attempts left in your ALEKS account) you may do that.

If your score is invalidated, we will let you know why it was not accepted so that you can make sure to correct that mistake when you take another attempt. Common reasons for score invalidation are described in the Taking the Assessment document.