ACCUPLACER tests do not have fixed passing scores, so you cannot fail a placement test. A placement test merely determines what courses you would be best to start with when you begin college.
The score requirements vary depending on the course you wish to test into. All of the scores on the ACCUPLACER exams are provided on a scaled scoring system. For example, if you get a question right, you will be given a slightly harder question; if you get a question wrong, you will be given a slightly easier question.
Below, are the minimum Accuplacer scores required for the corresponding courses.
The ACCUPLACER Next Generation Reading placement test measures four broad knowledge and skill categories: information and ideas (reading closely, determining central ideas and themes,
summarizing, understanding relationships), rhetoric (analyzing word choice rhetorically, analyzing text structure, analyzing point of view, analyzing purpose, analyzing arguments), Synthesis (analyzing multiple texts) and vocabulary.
SCORE | COURSES |
250+ | ENGL 191 |
BELOW 250* | Required: ENGL 190 and COLL 120 |
The ACCUPLACER for BIOL 202 Human Anatomy & Physiology I placement exam is based upon Minnesota high school standards for Biology. These include evolution and natural selection, cell structure and function, DNA to proteins, genetics, energy transfer, and the process of science. It is not a test of your knowledge of human functioning, but your expected biology background from high school standards.
SCORE | COURSES |
25+ | BIOL 202 |
BELOW 25 | Required: BIOL 103, 151 |
The ACCUPLACER English-As-A-Second Language (ESL) Listening test measures the ability to listen to and understand one or more people speaking in English. Conversations take place in a wide range of locations including lecture halls, grocery stores, and libraries.
The ACCUPLACER English-As-A-Second Language (ESL) Reading Skills test measures a student's ability to read English through the comprehension of short passages.
Please visit the EAP Department's site for more information on these exams.
ACCUPLACER Exam | Score | Eligible Courses for Registration |
Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics (QAS) | 255+ | MATH 072, MATH 103 -or- STAT 103 |
Intermediate Algebra | 60+ | MATH 112, 106, 201 |
65+ | MATH 115 -or- STAT 219, 239 | |
Advanced Algebra and Functions | 245+ | MATH 112, 196, 201 |
250+ | MATH 115 -or- STAT 219, 239 | |
255+ | MATH 113, 211 | |
263+ | MATH 221, 271 |