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
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
- Place using high school transcript information
- Place using standardized test scores
- 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
- Place using high school transcript information
- Place using standardized test scores
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
- Took the College’s test within the last two years;
- Have college transcripts showing completion of English and/or math courses on file at our Admissions & Records Office;
- Have earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher from a U.S. college or university; or
- 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.