Placement Testing
Placement testing is used mainly to place students into appropriate course levels and determine students' course schedule.
Although it is critical that students do their best, placement test results do not affect the student's admission to the university. See the appropriate section to review specific placement testing requirements.
Academic Support and Disability Accommodations
Students with a documented disability requiring accommodations must forward the appropriate documentation to the Accessibility Services on their campus at least two weeks prior to scheduling a placement test in order to ensure that accommodations can be provided. No accommodations will be allowed unless the required documentation is submitted prior to testing. Students who have already participated in placement testing and submit appropriate documentation will have the opportunity to retest with the accommodations in place.
Mathematics and English placement tests are required for all new undergraduate students, including transfer students, prior to orientation or attending classes. Transfer students may be exempt from mathematics placement testing only if Johnson & Wales University has awarded them transfer credit for degree-specific, first-level mathematics courses. Students seeking an additional bachelor’s degree may also be exempt from math and/or English testing.
The university administers Next Generation ACCUPLACER mathematics and English placement tests to assess students' skills in these areas. The mathematics tests, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics and Advanced Algebra and Functions, are designed to evaluate skills in relation to those required for college math courses. English placement testing, Writeplacer, is an essay writing test which evaluates writing skills. The ACCUPLACER exams are computer-based tests (CBT) developed by College Board.
All of these tests will result in placement into a course rather than in grades of Pass or Fail.
After acceptance and payment of the reservation fee, students will be emailed instructions for completing the required mathematics and English placement testing online with a virtual proctor. Virtual proctoring allows students to take placement tests online in a quiet and distraction-free location, such as home. Online testing appointments are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and require no software installs. All that is needed is a simple webcam, access to the internet and a voucher code that will be provided by the university. There is no charge for virtual proctoring or for the ACCUPLACER assessment. Assessment scores and placement will be displayed on the screen immediately upon submitting the ACCUPLACER. Once the assessment scores are recorded, students will be notified and provided with contact information to where they can address their questions should they wish to discuss their placement and course registration prior to their first term of enrollment.
One placement exam retake will be allowed 30 days after the initial test and no later than the start of the first semester of enrollment. Students requesting to retake their exam may do so by contacting Student Academic Services.
Visit Testing Services for additional information.
All undergraduate students who studied a language for more than one year in high school are required to take a placement exam prior to registering for a course in the respective language. Modern language placement exams are required for Spanish, French and German.
Modern language placement exams are computer-based ACCUPLACER tests administered by a virtual proctor. Testing vouchers are issued by Transfer & Testing upon request. Students whose placement score indicates they have met a particular level of language proficiency will not be allowed to enroll in that level of the language. Students placing out of a required level of a language will be given the option to take the CLEP exam to earn the language credits (fees apply), or to have the language credits replaced with an arts and sciences elective course.
For additional information, visit Testing Services.
Students admitted into the ESL Program are required to submit Duolingo English Test scores or complete the Levels of English Proficiency (LOEP) test to assess their English-language proficiency. This test includes three sections: reading, language usage and sentence meaning. LOEP tests are scheduled at the beginning of each semester and administered via the ACCUPLACER computer-based placement testing system.
Results of the Duolingo English Test or LOEP placement test will determine whether students are placed into the beginner, intermediate or advanced levels of ESL courses. Students with a score of 315 or higher on the LOEP test are eligible to take the TOEFL® Institutional Testing Program (ITP) test. Students who obtain a score of 550 or higher in the ITP can exit the ESL program and enroll directly in their degree program courses. Students with a test score under 550 on the ITP will have their individual section scores reviewed in the areas of listening, grammar and reading. Section scores with a minimum of 550 on the ITP will exempt the student from the corresponding ESL class. Students who do not submit Duolingo English Test Scores or complete the required LOEP test will automatically be placed into beginner-level ESL courses.
Upon placement and enrollment in ESL classes, students are expected to remain continuously enrolled and must successfully complete the remaining ESL program courses prior to enrollment in their degree program courses. English proficiency test scores submitted after the start of the ESL program will not be considered, and will not exempt the student from completing any remaining ESL courses.
Students can request to retake the placement exam by contacting the ELCA Department Chair at Wesley.Roy@jwu.edu to request participation. Students will be allowed one retake exam on the first Friday of their initial enrollment semester.