General Information
At ACU, ACT or SAT scores are used to place new students in the appropriate English and math courses. Students who are admitted without an ACT/SAT score may be required to take both the English and math placement tests.
If a student is expecting AP or transfer credit for math or English, they should contact their academic advisor before scheduling a placement test.
Only new students, including transfers with fewer than 65 transferable degree credits, are eligible to complete placement testing. Please note that students are not eligible for placement testing after beginning any math or English course.
The fee for on-campus placement tests is $15, and the fee for online placement tests is $40.
Scores are available upon completion of the test. Placement tests can be taken a maximum of 2 times.
Study materials can be found on the ACCUPLACER website. For the English placement test, prepare for the WritePlacer test. For the math placement test, look at practice questions from the three different math tests (Arithmetic; Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics; and Advanced Algebra and Functions).
To schedule an on-campus placement test, submit the ACU Test Request Form.
To register for an online placement test, submit the Online Placement Test Registration Form.
Students who want to take a placement test at a location other than ACU should contact acutesting@acu.edu for instructions.
Math Placement
Students who scored below 20 on ACT Math or below 530 on SAT Math, or who were admitted without test scores, can take the math placement test to improve course placement or to eliminate a math course that would not earn the required credit.
Math placement tests can be taken twice. They are untimed but generally take 60-75 minutes to complete.
Advanced Math Placement
Regardless of ACT/SAT scores, students majoring in math, science, engineering or computer science or pursuing a pre-health concentration (except nursing) will take the advanced math placement test.
It is used for placement into MATH109: Pre-calculus I, MATH124: Pre-calculus II, or MATH185: Calculus. Students who earned credit for MATH185 from AP or CLEP do not need to take a math placement test.
English Placement
Students who scored below 19 on ACT English or below 500 on SAT Reading & Writing, or who were admitted without test scores, can take the English placement test to improve course placement.
In addition to the electronic English placement exam, some new students qualify to take one of the two exams listed below. Review the English Placement Chart for more details. Please note that students may not earn credit for ENGL 112 without previously earning or being granted credit for ENGL 111.
ACU English Essay Exam
(*for new students only) The ACU English Essay Exam is a 2-hour exam (dictionary use permitted) offered during Wildcat Week before the beginning of the fall semester. The cost for this test is $25. If credit is earned, there is a $50 fee to post the credit to the student’s transcript.
ACU Researched Writing Exam
(*for new students only) Students will receive a reading packet several weeks before the exam and come for a two-hour exam during Wildcat Week before the beginning of the fall semester. Students will use information from the casebook sources to write a 600- to 750-word essay that responds to one of three prompts. Students will receive the prompts at the beginning of the exam. Students may bring a dictionary and grammar handbook. The cost for this test is $25. If credit is earned, there is a $50 fee per course to post the credit to the student’s transcript.