Assessment and Course Placement
English and math or statistics courses that are accepted by other colleges and universities are considered college-level. These courses have prerequisites that are equivalent to high school-level coursework. Placement is a process that determines student’s eligibility for enrolling in college-level English, math or statistics courses using information from your college application.
To view your placement status, log into your Student Portal. From the homepage, click on the “Student Status” tile, and then select “Placement Results”.
If the information on the college application was not sufficient to determine placement, students must complete English/ESL Survey and Math Survey also available in the Student Portal, under "Student Status" tile. Once the surveys are completed, your placement will be available within 24-48 hours. However, we suggest taking screenshots of your recommended levels at the end of each survey. If your placement is not available after 48 hours, see a counselor to get assistance completing this placement process. Make sure to bring the screenshots to your meeting with a counselor.
Once your placement is complete, you may enroll in corresponding courses that are required for your major. Your counselor can help you determine which courses are required for your major and how to plan your enrollment in them.
Students who participate in the Multiple Measures process will receive an English & Math course placement based on the levels shown below. For help in determining the best class for your major and educational plan, please contact a counselor.
| ENGLISH | |
|---|---|
| ET/ETS | ENGLISH 101, E.S.L. 110 |
| MATH | |
|---|---|
| MT4 | MATH 215, 227, 227S; STAT 101 MATH 247, 261 |
| MT2/MT2S | MATH 215, 227, 227S; STAT 101 MATH 238, 260 |
| MT1/MT1S | MATH 215, 227, 227S; STAT 101 MATH 238, 240, 245, 259 |
Students who participate in the English as a Second Language (ESL) Guided Self-Placement process will receive an ESL course placement based on the levels shown below.
| ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) | |
|---|---|
| EP1 | E.S.L. 008 |
| EP2 | E.S.L. 006A |
| EP3 | E.S.L. 005A |
| EP4 | E.S.L. 004A |
| EP5 | E.S.L. 003A, ESL NC 017CE |
If you graduated from a regionally accredited US high school or earned a GED or California High School Equivalency Certificate, your initial English placement is based on your high school grade point average (GPA) as follows:
- If your GPA is 1.9 or above, your placement is “ET – Transfer-level English Composition.” At this level and may take any form of transfer-level English composition, if it is required for your major.
- If your GPA is below 1.9, your placement is “ETS – Transfer-level English Composition with Support.” At this level and may also take transfer-level English composition, if it is required for your major, but at some colleges, you may be limited to versions with extra hours of support or with corequisite support. At most colleges, this is optional.
If you did not provide a US high school GPA or did not graduate from a US high school (or equivalent as described above), your placement is “EN – No English Placement,” in which case you may use the “English/ESL Placement Survey” described below to complete your placement.
- If you are a US high school graduate (or equivalent as described above), you may use the survey to choose from the transfer-level options.
- If you finished high school outside the United States (or at a non-accredited US high school), you may use the survey to choose a transfer-level placement. If English is not your native language, you may also choose one of the following pre-transfer-level credit English as a Second Language placements and then complete the ESL sequence from that level onward before enrolling in transfer-level English composition.
- EP1 – Credit ESL 1 Level Prior to Transfer-level
- EP2 – Credit ESL 2 Levels Prior to Transfer-level
- EP3 – Credit ESL 3 Levels Prior to Transfer-level
- EP4 – Credit ESL 4 Levels Prior to Transfer-level
- EP5 – Credit ESL 5 Levels Prior to Transfer-level
Based on the high school math grades you provided in your application, each of the following criteria is evaluated in descending order to determine which placement applies to you. Passing means earning a grade of at least “C” or “P.” Each placement level is named according to the types of courses it makes available.
- If you passed high school Calculus or Pre-Calculus, your placement is “MT4 – Calculus I or Statistics or Liberal Arts Mathematics.”
- If you passed Trigonometry, Integrated Math 3, or Algebra II, your placement is “MT2/MT2S – Pre-Calculus or Statistics or Liberal Arts Mathematics.”
- If you graduated from a US regionally accredited high school or earned a GED or California High School Equivalency Certificate, and none of the above are true, your placement is “MT1/MT1S – Transfer-level prior to Pre-Calculus.”
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If none of the above are true and you have not completed guided self-placement for math/statistics, your placement is “MN – No Math Placement,” in which case you may use the survey as described below to complete your placement.
Please note: If you earned a satisfactory score on an appropriate Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) math exam, or passed transfer-level math at another college or university, you may be eligible for a higher placement level. Please consult your counselor for details.
If you have an "MN" placement, log in to the Student Information System (PeopleSoft). Click the Student Status tile and then click Math Survey. You may use the survey to provide any grades you earned in the above high school math courses to determine your placement. If you did not take any such courses AND have not graduate from a US high school (or equivalent), your placement will be “MP – Pre-transfer-level Math.”
The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Equitable Placement website provides information about placement regulations and your rights. Furthermore, the Chancellor’s Office Transfer-level Gateway Completion Dashboard provides student success rates in the region.