Placement Testing

Placement is required to take any English or math course other than ENG 75 and MATH 75X.  All associate's degree programs at the college require 100-level English and math courses.  Certificate programs may or may not require English and math.  Please check the College Catalog, STAR, or discuss with your academic advisor to confirm your program's requirements.

Many students will not need to take a placement test.  Students can be placed based on:

  • High school GPA and course grades
  • Smarter Balanced assessment
  • ACT/SAT
  • Transition to college math course
  • Transfer courses from another institution
  • and several other, less common methods

Please see math and English placement info documents

To address health and safety concerns due to COVID-19, the University of Hawai`i Community Colleges are using UHCC EdReady for placement assessment through academic year 2021/2022.  UHCC EdReady may be completed in the comfort of your own home and is free to students.  Please visit the UHCC EdReady page to get started.

Kaua`i Community College also offers two self-guided placement surveys.  The Self-Guided Math Placement Survey and the Guided Self Placement - English survey. Results from these surveys may only be used for placement into courses offered by Kaua`i CC during the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters.

Important: Survey results will not be used for placement into Early College courses. If you’re not sure if Kauaʻi CC’s survey meets your needs, please consult with your counselor to discuss your best placement option.

Please click on tab to expand to read

Some placement options have changed due to the COVID-19 situation. Here are your options for English placement:  

PLACEMENT METHODS VALID THROUGHOUT THE UHCC SYSTEM

  1. Place using high school transcript information
  2. Place using standardized test scores
  3. Place using UHCC EdReady diagnostic

Placement valid only for Kaua’i CC English courses in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023:

    4. Get a placement recommendation using a guided self placement 

See our English Placement table for more detailed placement information.

 

Some placement options have changed due to the COVID-19 situation. Here are your options for math placement:

Placement methods valid throughout the UHCC system

  1. Place using high school transcript information
  2. Place using standardized test scores
  3. Place using UHCC EdReady diagnostic

Placement valid only for Kaua’i CC math courses in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023:

      4. Get a recommended placement using a self-guided survey

See our Math Placement table for more detailed placement information.

To learn more about this test, please visit Accuplacer's website where they also provide practice materials to help you prepare. Kaua'i CC uses WritePlacer for English placement and the Next-Generation Mathematics tests for Math placement.  Information about Accuplacer's WritePlacer and Next-Generation tests are also provided on their site.

  • University of Hawai'i Students
    • ACCUPLACER placement exams are administered by the Testing Center, however, scheduling and fees are handled by Student Counseling. 
    • Please contact (808) 245-8212 to register for this exam or to make changes to your placement testing appointment. 
  • Students of other Universities or Colleges
    • Kaua'i CC's Testing Center is set up as a remote Accuplacer testing site.  Your school can grant us access to the exact tests they use this means your course placement there may possibly be quicker.
      • Please verify that your school can do remote Accuplacer testing remotely. 
      • If yes, ask them what you need to do to take it remotely at Kaua`i Community College.  
      • Once you have your school's required information list or form, please call the Testing Center at (808) 245-8306 to make an appointment and request more detailed proctor information.
  • We charge a fee for administering Accuplacer tests for universities and colleges outside of our UH system.
  • Note: Not all schools use Accuplacer. You are responsible for making sure your school will take Accuplacer scores.  If they use a different placement testing system, you could still ask them to take their test remotely (on Kaua'i).

You may be exempt from placement testing if you:

  1. Took the College’s test within the last two years;
  2.  Have college transcripts showing completion of English and/or math courses on file at our Admissions & Records Office;
  3. Have earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher from a U.S. college or university; or
  4. Are applying as an unclassified student and do not plan to enroll in English or math courses or any course with English or math prerequisites.

You may use standardized test scores to place into English and Math:

Effective Fall 2017, students with SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score of 480 or higher, or ACT English score of 18 or higher, meet the placement requirement for ENG 100.

Effective Fall 2017, students with SAT Math score of 530 or higher, or ACT Math Score of 22 or higher, meet the placement requirements for MATH 100, MATH 103, MATH 111, or MATH 115.

College Course The ACT®
SUBJECT - SCORE
SAT® COLLEGE READINESS
SECTION - SCORE
ENG 100 ENGLISH - 18 EB Reading & Writing – 480
MATH 100, 103, 111, or 115 MATHEMATICS - 22 Math - 530

Other forms of assessment may be used to place into English and/or math courses. For more information, contact Academic Advising at (808) 245-8212.

Your course selections at registration will be limited without test scores or transcripts.

Your test results are available through our student information system at all institutions within the University of Hawai`i system.