Course Placement

LSU offers opportunities to receive course credit and placement based on work completed in high school and standardized test scores. Ensure your most up-to-date information is on file with LSU, including AP, IB, CLEP, and dual enrollment credit.

English Course Placement

Placement in English is determined by your SAT or ACT English and composite scores using the placement chart below. Initial placement in writing classes will be based on the best English ACT score and the best composite score from different ACT test dates if that gives a student better placement. Strong performance on the AP English Language and Composition or AP English Literature examination can also be used for placement into English.

If you are an international student whose first language is not English and you did not graduate from an American high school, you will be placed into English 0004 (not for degree credit), 1004 (equivalent to 1001), or 1005 (equivalent to 2000), according the scores on the Michigan test.

For exemption from English 1001, you must have an ACT English score of at least 26 (column 1) AND the sum of the ACT English score and the composite score must be at least 53 (column 2). For exemption from both English 1001 and 2000, you must have an ACT English score of at least 32 (column 1) AND the sum of the ACT English score and the composite score must be at least a total of 65. You would not be exempt from English 1001 if you had an ACT English score of 26 but the sum of your ACT English plus composite score was 52.

Mathematics Course Placement

Placement in mathematics courses is based on your quantitative SAT (Q-SAT) score or math ACT (M-ACT) score or ALEKS placement score. You may also use your score on the LSU Department of Mathematics placement/credit exam or your score on the AP, CLEP, or IB exams to improve on your initial placement and to possibly earn advanced-standing credit in math.

Spanish Course Placement

Students who have two years of previous experience in learning Spanish (in high school or elsewhere) will be automatically placed in SPAN 1152. Students who have less than two years of previous experience learning Spanish (in high school or elsewhere) will be automatically placed in SPAN 1101.  It is strongly recommended that students who have taken at least two years of Spanish in high school take the Spanish credit exam through Testing and Evaluation Services. A student may only benefit by taking the Spanish credit exam. Specifically, students have the opportunity to earn up to four semesters (i.e., 14 semester hours) of credit in the introductory Spanish language courses via the Spanish credit exam. These semester hours may count toward a student’s foreign language requirement and/or their general education humanities requirement as appropriate.

Any student who, after taking the Spanish credit exam, places into SPAN 2101 or SPAN 2102 will be awarded advanced standing credit based on their credit exam score. Students placing into SPAN 1152 will be awarded credit for SPAN 1101 only after successfully completing SPAN 1152 (i.e., getting a “C-“ or better).

Students who believe that their placement in any introductory Spanish course is not accurate should consult with Dr. Dorian Dorado, undergraduate advisor for Spanish levels 1101-2102, at ddorado@lsu.edu.

Other Opportunities for Placement and Advanced-Standing Credit

Testing and Evaluation Services offers advanced-standing examinations to incoming students. Examinations are offered in the following disciplines: Calculus, French, German, Latin, Spanish and Trigonometry.

For more information, contact the Office of Assessment & Evaluation at 225-578-1145.