Math Placement Assessment

APU’s General Education program recognizes quantitative literacy as one of the six essential learning outcomes at the heart of a liberal arts education. The Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) defines quantitative literacy (QL) as a “habit of mind, competency, and comfort in working with numerical data.” APU’s quantitative literacy curriculum aims to empower students to be wise consumers and producers of quantitative information as they serve God faithfully in a complex world.

There are several pathways (PDF) for meeting the GE Quantitative Literacy requirement. Some entering students will be able to demonstrate quantitative literacy with a standardized test score or a high school math grade, but most students will develop their quantitative literacy by taking one of the four GE quantitative literacy courses.

APU uses the ALEKS PPL system to determine initial math placement. Please take a moment to determine whether you are required to use ALEKS.

Students who need to use ALEKS are strongly encouraged to take an initial assessment at home as soon as possible. After this, they will be able to review using their Prep and Learning Module and then retake the ALEKS assessment up to four times. ALEKS placement scores expire after one year, to ensure that they reflect students’ current preparation level. You are expected to enroll in a math course during your first semester at APU (unless you have already completed all of your math requirements).