Placement Testing

All freshmen or first-time undergraduate students are required to take both placement exams in English Composition and Mathematics. Transfer students who have not transferred courses that have completed their CSU general education requirements in English or Math must take the appropriate placement exams in order to enroll in courses that will fulfill their general education requirements.

The placement exams at CSU are administered via Accuplacer, a web-based placement exam program created by the College Board. The Mathematics exam is not timed, but the English Composition exam is timed to 1.5 hours (90 minutes).

Exam results are provided immediately after completion of any placement exams, and these results include information about the course(s) into which a student has placed. If students wish to improve their test results in order to place into different courses, it is possible to retake the placement exams for a minimal fee. Click here to learn more about our exam retake policy.

Students who started at Chicago State prior to the Fall 2019 are required to meet their graduation exam requirements in both English and Reading, in addition to fulfilling their university general education requirements. All students who started prior to Fall 2019 should see their advisor to make sure they have completed their graduation exam requirements.

For more details about placement testing requirements, please see our Student Testing Requirements page.

Foreign Language Placement Testing

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literature administers placement exams for students taking French and Spanish courses who have not already demonstrated language proficiency through national standardized testing. The Office of Examinations does not administer these exams, so please contact Foreign Languages and Literature for further information.

Remote Testing

There are 2 kinds of remote testing situations:

at another institution near their home
at CSU for students attending another college or university

CSU students who wish to take their placement exam(s) at another institution near their home should contact the Office of Examinations to request a remote test. We will assist CSU students in setting up a remote testing location, ensuring that students’ placement test scores will be sent directly to CSU. Students will then be responsible for contacting the remote testing site and paying any remote testing fees charged by that site.

Students who attend another college or university and who wish to take an Accuplacer placement exam at Chicago State should contact their home institution to request a remote test. The student’s home institution will set up a voucher for the student to take a remote test, which ensures that test results will be sent to the student’s home institution and confirms the testing site for remote testing. Remote testing students should bring their testing voucher on the day of their test. There is a $30 fee for all remote testing exams that are administered by the CSU Examinations Testing Lab, and remote testing students must pay that fee at the CSU Cashier's Office. The remote testing fee must be paid prior to testing.