The UAF Math Placement Test is the ALEKS Placement Assessment which covers material from Basic Math through Precalculus and will take approximately 90 minutes to complete. After the assessment, a targeted Prep  and Learning Module is available for you to review and learn material, and to improve placement and eventual course outcomes. You have the option of re-testing up to four times. These re-tests are included in the package. You have nothing to lose by re-testing because UAOnline will apply your highest score.

First year and transfer students should complete their assessments before coming to  orientation visits during which you will be meeting with an advisor. The sooner you take it, the more opportunity there will be for you to review and re-test if you are not satisfied with your placement. Current UAF students should complete the placement test before registering for classes for the next semester.

Roughly speaking, you have at least 5 months to start your learning module and be able to take advantage of the full 6 week learning module, and as many as 10 months. Why the range? There are two enrollment periods for the placement test, and the available time is determined by the beginning of the enrollment period.

Here are the technical details:

• If you took your placement test between March 1 and August 15, you must complete your learning module by February 28.
• If you took your placement test between August 16 and February 28, you must complete your learning module by August 15.

At this time UAF is not awarding credit for ALEKS ACE credit courses or exams.

The Math Placement package costs $25. This charge will be added to you UAF account.

It is important to remember that the fee includes up to a full year of access to the UAF Math Placement package including:

• Initial UAF Math Placement Test
• A six-week on-line preparation and learning module
• Up to four re-tests

Students can take the placement test anytime of the year, from any computer that has internet access.

No, you must complete a new placement assessment to change your placement result.

If your last math course was at UAF (and you withdrew, did not pass with a high enough grade, or wish to receive a grade replacement), you generally should still be able to register for that course; however, if too much time has elapsed and the UAF Math Placement Test score that got you into that course has expired, you may have to first take the UAF Math Placement Test (even if you already took it in the past).

Your AP math scores may earn you Calculus course credit, in which case you will not need to take the ALEKS test. After talking with your academic advisor, you will be able to register for the appropriate course. If your AP score is a 3 or better, you will not need to take the ALEKS test. If it is a 2 or lower, you will be contacted by your advisor and will need to take the ALEKS test before enrolling in a different math course. If you have any reason to believe that your AP score may be borderline or not passing, it would be a wise choice to go ahead and take the ALEKS test before you receive your AP scores.

If you have transfer credit equivalent to a UAF math class, you do not need to take the ALEKS test, provided this course grade is within 2 years.  If your transcripts have not been evaluated, you have two options, (1) you can take the ALEKS test to enroll in your course requiring math placement or (2) you may talk with the instructor and get a temporary waiver until your transfer courses are evaluated. If you choose option (2) and your transfer courses are not accepted, you will be required to take ALEKS.

You have one of two choices. 

Choice 1. You may review the topics you have forgotten in an attempt to improve your score by using the 6-week Learning Module part of your package. The learning module is accessed via the same way you accessed the placement exam, namely through the link Take the Assessment or the Returning Users link. Both are at the top right of this page.

Choice 2. Reconsider your plans and start your math at UAF in a course for which you are prepared as assessed by the UAF Math Placement Test.

You can find a list of Math Placement Cut Scores here.  To determine if one of your other courses has math placement as a requirement, you should consult the course description section of the UAF catalog which can be found here. (http://catalog.uaf.edu/courses/)

The score should appear in UAOnline within one business day of completing the placement test.

There are a number of topics on the ALEKS Placement Assessment. In a relatively short period of time (about 90 minutes to two hours for most students), ALEKS assesses the percentage of the student's current knowledge of topics from the placement tool (how many of the total topics the student already has mastered) by asking a small number of questions, usually 20-30. 

ALEKS chooses each question on the basis of a student's answers to all the previous questions. Each student, and therefore each set of assessment questions, is unique. It is impossible to predict the questions that will be asked. By the time a student has completed the assessment, ALEKS has developed a precise picture of his or her knowledge from basic math up through precalculus, and has identified which topics the student has and has not mastered. An overview of how ALEKS works is available online at: http://www.aleks.com/about_aleks/overview

Your score will appear in UAOnline within 24 hours of taking the assessment.  However, you can print your score at the end of the assessment and bring it to your advisor.

Scores are valid for twelve months.

If a previous UAF Math Placement score resulted in a higher UAF math placement, the system will keep the higher score, unless the score has expired. Assessment scores are valid for one year.

Yes. ALEKS, the program used for the placement assessment, offers a free assessment that anyone can take at any time. To access this, go to ALEKS.com. Follow the path: Higher Education (tool bar at top), Mathematics (drop down menu to left), Free Trial (drop down menu under Resources on the right), Experience ALEKS as a Student- Try ALEKS now. This will allow you to create a trial account and get into the free assessment area. Select Precalculus as the sample course if you are planning on a calculus–based major, otherwise try College Algebra. Remember that the free assessment does not count as a math placement test.

You can take the placement test on any computer that has a internet connection. Click on Take the test link at the top of this page.

No.

Solve all problems on the ALEKS Assessment without assistance. This means that you should not use any books or online resources, and you should not get assistance from any other person. Work the problems with pencil and paper. Enter only your final answer into ALEKS. Use a calculator only when the ALEKS calculator is given. Don't worry if you get a problem that is too difficult. This is normal. Try your best to solve any problems that you think you might be able to solve, and click "I don't know" only if you really don't know how to solve a problem. 

At the beginning of the ALEKS assessment, you will go through a brief tutorial that will introduce you to the ALEKS system and interface. You will be shown how to enter different types of answers, how to use the ALEKS calculator, and how to graph something by hand. Although the interface is reasonably intuitive and the tutorial is very helpful, there may be times when you need help using the ALEKS system; in these situations, click on the "Help" button at the top of the screen. Sometimes you might have to use new tools to submit your answers during the ALEKS Assessment. When this happens, Quick Help will be available, and will show you how to use these tools. Don't rush through the assessment. Although we prefer that you take the assessment in one sitting, there may be situations in which you must leave your computer. If that is the case, just close the ALEKS window. When you log on again later, ALEKS will bring you to the point at which you left off. However, you must complete the exam within the 72-hour time limit.

Generally, students are asked 20 to 30 questions. None of the questions are multiple-choice. Students who are unable to answer many of the first questions may end up with a shorter exam.

Once you have started the assessment, you have 72 hours to complete the UAF placement test. If you do not complete the assessment in that time, you will have to restart the assessment.

No. Once you submit an answer, you cannot change it. Please keep this in mind while testing.

If you have computer problems, you should be able to log back into the ALEKS Assessment and resume testing. When you log on again, ALEKS will bring you to the point at which you left off.

The ALEKS Assessment requires a web browser. The exam may be taken on a PC (Windows) or Mac (OSX), using any of the following browsers: Chrome, Safari 4+, Firefox 10+. It also may be taken on an iPad (iOS6+), Chromebook (Chrome) and some Android tablets. Additional information is online at: http://www.aleks.com/support/system_requirements

Please do the following: 

If you recently confirmed your admission to UAF, please wait for the system to update. It may take up to 1-2 business days.  

If you confirmed your admission to UAF more than 1-2 business days ago, please contact the Office of Information Technology. Please include your UAF student ID  number so that we can best assist you.