Hays Student Center
Student Success Center

Placement Testing and Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)

The Testing Center is located in the Hays Student Center room 104 and supports teaching and learning by providing high-quality test administration in a comfortable and secure testing environment. The Testing Center offers a variety of tests.

Types of Tests

Placement Assessment:

You could be exempt from placement testing if you:
  • Have earned a baccalaureate degree.
  • Have earned a transfer-oriented associate degree (i.e. AA or AS; excludes AGS and AAS).
  • Have successfully completed (earned a grade of C or higher) in a college-level mathematics or a college-level writing course. College-level courses are defined as those courses that apply to the graduation requirements of an academic degree.
  • Have successfully completed (earned a grade of C or higher) necessary basic skills course(s), if required, in mathematics, writing and reading.
  • Have high level performance in high school:
    • Math:
      • 3.0 unweighted high school GPA and has passed high school algebra II or Geometry with a B or better (in the last 18 months), student can enroll in career/technical math, liberal arts math, or statistics.
      • 3.0 unweighted high school GPA and has passed pre-calculus with a B or better (in the last 18 months), student can enroll in College Algebra.
    • English/Reading:
      • 3.0 unweighted high school GPA and has passed 11th grade English with a B or better (in the last 2 years), student can enroll in college English.

Placement Tests:

ACT - ACT is a standardized test composed of four sections (plus an optional essay) that all four-year universities in the United States accept. Northeastern offers testing on most of the National Test Dates.

Accuplacer - Placement testing helps determine if the student is ready to enroll in college-level courses or pre-college courses that build their skills for future success. Test costs $15 and takes approximately 1.5 hours. Call to schedule a time 970-521-6663. Free study/practice: Accuplacer Practice 

Skills and Certification Tests: 

ASE – Automotive Service Excellence - Register and pay for ASE tests and then call to schedule a time. 

CLEP - College Level Exam Program lets students demonstrate the knowledge and mastery they have acquired through independent study, academic interests, or on-the-job training. When students earn qualifying scores on these exams, they can move past introductory-level course work and on to more advanced challenging courses. Test costs $25 Northeastern Assessment Fee + $87 CLEP Test Fee (payable online or by credit card) Total = $112. Call to schedule a time. CLEP website for more information.

Kaplan – Nursing entrance exam. Test costs $35. Call to schedule a time. Pre-payment is required.

Proctoring:

If you need to take a test for another institution in a proctored environment, we offer this service. It's the responsibility of the student to contact their school to arrange to have the test sent to Northeastern, or to have the necessary website/password information sent, if the test is web-based. Call to schedule a time. The fee is $25 per test.