Frequently Asked Questions

All incoming freshmen must take the ALEKS PPL Math Placement Exam. There are no exceptions. If you are a freshman, you need to take the math test.

Transfer students, though, are in a different situation. If you already have transferred credit for Calculus I, you don't need to take the ALEKS PPL Math Placement Exam. If you don't plan to enroll in Calculus I for your academic program requirements, you don't need to take the ALEKS PPL Math Placement Exam. However, if you do plan to enroll in Calculus I or in a lower-level math course (e.g., precalculus or algebra), then you must take the math test. If you are not sure whether you will take a math class at Illinois, we encourage you to take the math placement test, especially if you are planning to go into engineering or any program requiring math.

Whether you should take the EPT, a science placement test, or one of the "language other than English" (LOTE) placement tests will depend on several factors, including your academic background, the college you are entering, and any transferable credit you earned elsewhere.

• Freshmen, learn more.
• Transfer students, learn more.

They are available in early May for students who are admitted for the Summer or Fall semester and in early November for students who are admitted for the Spring semester.

The exams are offered online, so you can take them whenever it is convenient for you.

You may take the EPT, the science, and the the "language other than English" (LOTE) placement exams only ONCE.

You may take the ALEKS PPL Math Placement Exam more than once. Immediately upon completing the math test, you will see your score and, if you are not satisfied with the result, you can take the test again as early as the next day. If you want to take it a third time, you will be required to engage in the learning module for a minimum of 5 hours before being allowed to log in and test again. If you wish to test a fourth or fifth time, you will need to contact the Math Department to request permission and a password to access the test again.

You should always discuss your test results with your academic advisor so that you plan your course schedule appropriately to fulfill your degree requirements.

Generally, no. "New Student Placement Testing" is available only to new, incoming students. If you did not take the placement exams prior to or during your first year at Illinois, your option now may be to take a departmental proficiency exam. Check with the department, though, to see whether results are simply PASS/FAIL (meaning, you won't get a placement recommendation) or whether results provide you with an updated assessment of your knowledge and skills as well as a course placement recommendation.

We now have a Spanish and a French placement tests for upperclassmen. You will be able to log in whenever you wish using your NetID.

Can you answer YES to all of these questions?

1. Are you coming in as a new freshman or a new transfer student for Fall 2023?
2. Did you receive an email notification from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions informing you that you should do your checklist and take your placement tests?
3. Did you claim your Network ID?
4. Did you enter the correct NetID and AD password? Your NetID is not your UIN. Technology Services can help if you need assistance with your accounts and passwords.

If you answered YES to all of those questions but you are still having trouble logging in to the science or language placement tests, please call us during normal business hours at 217-244-4437 or email us at pnp@illinois.edu. Provide your UIN, describe what you are doing, and tell us the error message, if any, you are getting.

If you are having trouble logging in to the ALEKS PPL Math Placement Test, the ALEKS Customer Support will help you.

• Your ALEKS PPL Math Exam score will be shown to you when you complete the exam. There will also be a pie chart illustrating how you did on the questions you were given. You can print out your results if you wish.
• Your science and "language other than English" placement results will also be shown to you when you complete an exam. Just click on the SUMMARY tab to view them. You can also print this page, if you wish.
• If you took the EPT, you will need to check with your academic advisor about a week after the testing window closed.
• If you take a placement exam in a less commonly studied language, you will need to check with that department to learn how you did. Usually within a week they send you an email with your test results.
   

It is very important that you discuss your course enrollment options with your academic advisor during New Student Registration, especially if your placement allows you to choose from two or more courses.

The advisor you meet with for New Student Registration may or may not be the same person who is your official academic advisor. Be sure to ask and write down your academic advisor’s name, office location, and email address. This is the person who will guide you through your program until you graduate. You can meet with him or her at any time to review the results of your placement exams and discuss your course enrollment options.

1. Inform the Office of Undergraduate Admissions that you accept Illinois' offer of admission. Your Acceptance of Admission must be officially processed before you can take the online placement exams.
2. Claim your NetID and set your NetID password. If you can't remember what password you created, you can contact Technology Services to re-set it.

Placement testing is done online, so you can choose the day when it is most convenient for you to take the tests that you need to take. You should complete all of your placement exams at least two weeks prior to your New Student Registration appointment. If you wait until the last minute, your test results might not be available for your academic advisor to see.

REMEMBER ...

If you have absolutely no familiarity with a subject, you do not need to take its placement test.

Students who need extra time can request authorization for extended time from the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES). You must have already been accepted to Illinois before you can apply for accommodations. For more information, please contact DRES.

Academic credit is awarded for scores of 3, 4, and 5 on any of the 38 AP exams (including Seminar and Research). Policies are subject to change upon annual review. The credit earned will be either elective credit or course credit. Click here to see our current AP credit policies.

Academic credit is awarded for scores of 4, 5, 6, and 7 on any IB exam, whether Higher Level or Standard Level. Policies are subject to change upon annual review. The credit earned will be either elective credit or course credit. Click here to see our current IB credit policies.

The easiest way is to check your DARS report. You can also go meet with your academic advisor, who can check your AP/IB credit by pulling up your academic record.

Feel free to contact us to ask whether your scores were received. You may email us at pnp@illinois.edu or call us at 217-244-4437 during normal business hours. However, due to privacy regulations, we cannot discuss the academic credit that appears, or that does not appear, on your academic record.

The easiest way is to check your DARS report. If you scored high enough to earn credit, the course abbreviation and the hours earned will be recorded on your academic record, and the grade will be PS, meaning "pass." You do not need to do anything more.

If you did not score high enough to earn credit, you will not see anything in DARS. Most departments inform test-takers of their results via email or a secure website. If you have questions, you should contact the department that administered the test.

The department that administered the proficiency test is responsible for grading your test and submitting the Proficiency Examination Results form to the Registrar's Office and/or to your College office. Please be patient, as grading exams and updating all students' academic records with the results can take several weeks.

Does your AP Score Report or your IB transcript of exam grades show that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was one of the universities you asked the College Board or the International Baccalaureate Organization to send your scores to?

If so, it could be that there is a problem matching your AP or IB record with your academic record. Common problems include misspellings of a student's name ( e.g., Yu-shen vs. Yushen) or different dates of birth (e.g., MM-DD-YYYY vs. DD-MM-YYYY). Call Placement and Proficiency at (217) 244-4437 or e-mail us at pnp@illinois.edu

If not, and if you are actively enrolled as an undergraduate student at Illinois, it is not too late to request that your scores be sent to us.

• For AP scores, you need to ask the College Board to send them. Our institution code is 1836. They will be sent electronically unless your scores are more than 4 years old. If your scores are more than 4 years old, be sure to fill out their "Archived AP Scores Request Form" (the link to download this form is in the fourth option on their website).
• For IB scores, ask International Baccalaureate to send your transcript of IB exam results to us. UIUC has now switched to electronic score delivery.  Our institution code is 001410.

Test scores MUST come directly from the testing agency. We do not accept score reports from students. All test scores will be processed immediately upon receipt.

No, it is not too late. Just remember that the credit policies that apply to you are the ones that were in effect when you first enrolled at Illinois. Check the archives for details.

• For AP scores, you need to ask the College Board to send them. Our institution code is 1836. They will be sent electronically unless your scores are more than 4 years old. If your scores are more than 4 years old, be sure to fill out their "Archived AP Scores Request Form" (the link to download this form is in the fourth option on their website). Generally, it takes two weeks for us to receive your AP scores from the date the College Board receives your request. They offer an optional 2-day rush service that guarantees they will process your request within two working days. The 2-day rush does not mean 2-day delivery!
• For IB scores, ask International Baccalaureate to send your transcript of IB exam results to us. UIUC has now switched to electronic score delivery.  Our institution code is 001410.

The Advanced Placement (“AP”) Program is a compilation of 38 individual courses, such as English Literature or Statistics, that were designed by high school teachers and college instructors and that are taught in high schools around the country. According to the College Board, which developed the AP Program, AP “enables students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school.” Every May high school students can choose to take one or more standardized AP exams, which are graded by the College Board. AP test results are then reported on a scale of 1 to 5, where

• 1 means “No recommendation"
• 2 means “Possibly qualified”
• 3 means “Qualified”
• 4 means “Well qualified” and
• 5 means “Extremely well qualified"

The International Baccalaureate ("IB") Diploma Programme is a two-year, holistic educational program roughly corresponding to the junior and senior years of high school in the American school system. Students earning the diploma have to study from six subject groups, three at the Standard Level and three at the Higher Level; study at least two languages; and complete a compulsory core composed of three elements (a course on the theory of knowledge, an extended essay of some 4000 words that functions as an independent research project, and "creativity, activity, and service" which entails 150 hours of community service). The Higher Level and Standard Level exams are taken in May or November, are partially graded by their teachers and partially graded by external examiners, and are scored on a scale of 1 to 7. The approximate meaning of the final scores is as follows:

• 1 means “Very rudimentary knowledge and understanding of the questions or tasks”
• 2 means “Superficial knowledge and understanding of the questions or tasks”
• 3 means “Some knowledge and some understanding of the questions or tasks”
• 4 means “Adequate knowledge; some ability to develop ideas"
• 5 means “Good understanding; logical answers but not fully developed”
• 6 means "Very good understanding; well-developed answers"
• 7 means "Excellent understanding and critical thinking; detailed explanations"

This law states that all public universities and all public community colleges in the State of Illinois must begin awarding college credit for scores of 3, 4, and 5 on every AP exam to students entering the university in the 2016-2017 academic year; and that they must begin awarding college credit for scores of 4, 5, 6, and 7 on every IB exam to students entering the university in the 2017-2018 academic year. The law does not affect policies for any other standardized exam.

It used to be that on the Urbana-Champaign campus, most (but not all) AP exams were accepted for credit, and most students earned credit for scores of either 4 or 5. Similarly, many (but not all) IB exams were accepted for credit, predominantly in the most commonly studied subjects (e.g., biology, chemistry, English, math), and most students earned credit for scores of 6 and 7. In keeping with the law, our campus now awards credit for scores of 3 or higher on all AP exams and for scores of 4 or higher on all IB exams.

Test-based credit policies for the Advanced Placement Program and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme are reviewed by campus faculty on an annual basis. Every fall the coordinator of new student placement and proficiency testing contacts the academic departments to inform them of any changes in AP and IB curricula, exams, and scoring procedures. The faculty then review this material, comparing it to their courses’ content, the tasks their students engage in, and the level of mastery that their students must demonstrate to earn passing grades in these courses. They then recommend credit policies for the next academic year, which are reviewed by the college in which the department is housed. In setting AP and IB credit policies, the goal is always to ensure to the best of our ability that students earning test-based credit for a course are as well-prepared to succeed in higher-level courses as students who actually took that course on our campus.

Course credit earned from AP and IB exams will be posted to the student’s official academic record. Whether a student chooses to take the course anyway will very much depend on the individual student’s academic strengths, weaknesses, and goals. Students should consider the requirements of their current program as well as their future plans.

Students who think they might go on to Master's or doctoral studies need to be aware that many professional schools (e.g., medical schools) and graduate schools WILL NOT accept test-based credit. Instead, they require evidence that the student successfully completed the actual course at a college or university in order to be considered for admission to a graduate program. For example, the med school wants to see “MCB 150” on the student’s academic transcript and not “Test-Based Credit for MCB 150." New students at Illinois can discuss this with their academic advisors when registering for first-semester classes.

The courses that college students take fall into three broad categories that sometimes overlap:

a) Courses that are required for their major. These courses are typically within the same field; for example, a computer science major will take computer science courses.

b) Courses that fulfill the university’s General Education requirements. Such courses serve to ensure that undergraduates get a well-rounded education by studying a well-balanced array of subjects. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, we have seven Gen Ed areas:

• Composition (i.e., critical thinking and academic writing)
• Quantitative Reasoning (e.g., math)
• Humanities and the Arts (e.g., history)
• Social and Behavioral Sciences (e.g., anthropology, political science)
• Natural Sciences and Technology (e.g., chemistry, biology)
• Cultural Studies:
  • Western/Comparative (e.g., European history)
  • Non-Western (e.g., African studies)
  • U.S. Minority (e.g., Asian American History)
• Language Other Than English

c) Courses that are electives. Electives allow a student to explore subjects simply for the pleasure of being exposed to new ideas and for the opportunity to learn something different from what they are required to learn for their major or Gen Ed courses. These include any courses that count towards the minimum number of hours required for graduation that do not fall into the categories of "Courses that are required for their major" or "Courses that fulfill the university's General Education requirements."

For the purposes of this legislation discussion, major and Gen Ed credit awarded on the basis of an AP or IB test score will correspond to an actual course when the content of the AP or IB course and the student’s mastery of that material corresponds closely to the content of a course taught on this campus. For example, an AP Psychology score of 5 earns credit for our PSYC 100 course. In contrast, elective credit awarded on the basis of an AP or IB test score will typically indicate that the content of the AP or IB course does not correspond to the content of a specific course taught on this campus. For example, scores of 3, 4, and 5 on the AP Seminar exam will earn 3 hours of elective credit.

The new AP policies went into effect for all new students enrolling for the first time during the 2016-2017 academic year.

The new IB policies went into effect for all new students enrolling for the first time during the 2017-2018 academic year.

It depends on when you first enrolled at Illinois.

The AP portion of the law went into effect for the 2016-2017 academic year, and so the new policies apply only to new, incoming students who enrolled at Illinois from Fall 2016 onwards. If you first enrolled at Illinois prior to Fall 2016, you cannot get credit for AP scores of 3 unless policy was already awarding credit for scores of 3. Please check the archives to see the policies that apply to you.

The IB portion of the law went into effect for the 2017-2018 academic year, and so the new policies apply only to new, incoming students who enrolled at Illinois from Fall 2017 onwards. If you first enrolled at Illinois prior to Fall 2017, you cannot get credit for certain IB scores unless policy was already awarding credit for those scores. Please check the archives to see the policies that apply to you.

As has been our campus’ practice for many years, the amount of AP or IB credit that currently enrolled students earned when they first enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will neither be added to nor taken away when new policies go into effect.

QUESTION: What if a student at another institution earns credit for a test score that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign doesn’t accept, such as an AP score of 2? Or what if the other institution awards credit for a specific course and this campus does not (e.g., for an AP score of 3, the other institution awards PSYC 100 credit but Illinois awards PSYC 1 - - elective credit)? If the student in either of these scenarios transfers to Illinois, will the course credit transfer too?

ANSWER: Possibly. A student presenting test-based credit may be granted transfer credit on our campus if he or she has successfully completed:

• At least 12 graded semester hours of transferable college-level classroom coursework from the institution or a single campus in a multi-campus institution that awarded the test credit; and
• Advanced transferable classroom coursework in the same subject area as the test credit at the same institution awarding the credit.

If the test-based credit does not meet both of these criteria, the student may submit the original AP scores to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for evaluation.

Credit for the State Seal of Biliteracy is processed through the Office of the Registrar. Learn more.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the State Seal of Biliteracy “recognizes public high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in one or more languages in addition to English.” Through HB 4330, the Illinois School Code was amended to include the Seal of Biliteracy. Illinois Student Code requires that public universities in the State of Illinois (1) for admissions purposes, accept the State Seal of Biliteracy as equivalent to two years of foreign language coursework taken in high school and (2) establish criteria for awarding equivalent course credit. These requirements went into effect January 1, 2017. As of March 2019, 36 states plus the District of Columbia have a State Seal of Biliteracy. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will recognize the State Seal of Biliteracy regardless of the state in which it was earned. No credit will be awarded for the State Commendation toward Biliteracy.

Credit is not processed automatically upon receipt of a high school transcript. In accordance with Illinois School Code, students enrolled in a public community college or public university who have received a State Seal of Biliteracy must request credit for their seal within 3 academic years after graduating from high school. Students enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign may submit the request to the Office of the Registrar via the online request form after the beginning of the first term of enrollment.

Upon receipt of the request from the student, the Office of the Registrar will verify the Seal of Biliteracy on the official final high school transcript received by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Students with a verified Seal of Biliteracy will earn 8 hours of credit equivalent to the first two levels of foreign language regardless of the language other than English. The credit will appear as 8.00 Earned hours from Seal of Biliteracy on the official University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign transcript in the Transfer Credit Accepted by the Institution section. Similar to credit earned from Advanced Placement exams, the credit will not be included in the calculation of the student’s Grade Point Average (GPA) given there is no grade (e.g. A, B+, C-) associated with the seal.