English Composition Placement

Policy

Students who have been admitted to an undergraduate degree program at Minnesota State University, Mankato and who need to fulfill General Education Goal Area 1, Part A are placed in a Composition course or course sequence based on their instructional needs. Course placements are made using students’ scores on the ACT, SAT, and/or Next Gen Accuplacer. For international students who do not have English as their first language, course placements are made using the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), the Accuplacer ESL Reading Test, and the Accuplacer WritePlacer.  

Domestic Students

Domestic students seeking to enroll in ENG 101 must demonstrate readiness to succeed in the course through one of the following means:

ACT English sub score	SAT Evidence-Based Reading & Writing score	Next Gen Accuplacer (NGA) Reading Score	Course Prerequisite
18 or higher	480 or higher	250 or higher	Successful completion of ENG 100
16-17 and HS GPA 2.5 or higher	440-479 and HS GPA 2.5 or higher	236-249 and HS GPA 2.5 or Higher

Students who have been admitted to the university without an ACT or SAT score must take the Next Gen Accuplacer (NGA) Reading Comprehension Test to determine their Composition placement.

Students may be exempted from taking the Next Gen Accuplacer Reading Test based on documentation of one of the following measures:

1. Accuplacer Reading Comprehension Test scores of 78 or higher taken at any college or university within the last five calendar years;
2. ACT English score of 17 and an ACT Writing Test Subscorebetween 8 and 12; 
3. AP English Language and Composition test score of 3 or higher; 
4. CLEP English composition and literature test score of 50 or above;
5. Grade of “C” or higher in a domestic postsecondary non-developmental English course in which writing was a focus of instruction.
6. Completion of ESL 136 or EAP 136 prior to August 2019.
7. MCA Reading Score 1047 completed before and April 2020.
8. SAT Writing & Language Sub Score of 26 or higher completed before April 2020.

Test scores, including ACT, SAT, MCA, Accuplacer, or Next Gen Accuplacer, that are more than five years old will not be accepted for English placement.

Students whose scores fall below the standards listed above must enroll in a two-semester Composition course sequence: ENG 100 and ENG 101. Students must earn a C or better in the first course of their Composition sequence to enroll in the second course in the sequence.

International Students

International students who do not have English as their first language can enroll in English 101 with a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of 69 or above (internet-based - iBT) or 523 or above (paper-based - PBT), or an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 6 or above.

International students with TOEFL scores below 69 (iBT) or below 523 (PBT) or with an IELTS score below 6 must take both the Accuplacer ESL Reading Test and the Accuplacer WritePlacer.

International students with an Accuplacer WritePlacer score of 6 can enroll in English 101, and students with both an Accuplacer ESL Reading test score of 110 or higher AND an Accuplacer WritePlacer score of 5 can also enroll in English 101.

International students with either (1) an Accuplacer WritePlacer score below 6 or (2) an Accuplacer ESL Reading test score below 110 and an Accuplacer WritePlacer score of 4 or lower must take and pass ENG 100 (multilingual section) with a grade of C before enrolling in English 101.

International students with a Duolingo score of 105 can enroll in English 101.

International students with a Pearson’s Test of English (PTE) score of 55 can enroll in English 101.

Exemptions

Students are exempted from submitting documentation of ACT, SAT, or MCA or from taking the Accuplacer subject area test based on

1. Enrollment in exclusively non-credit courses, or
2. Documentation of successful completion of a college-level course in the areas for which the course placement score is used, or
3. Documentation of completion of an associates degree, a baccalaureate degree, or higher degree.

Students enrolled in courses at the university before June 1, 2010, are exempted from the policy.

Re-test

Students may not retake any Accuplacer test for a period of two weeks following the most recent testing date.

Appeal Process

Students not meeting the requirement for enrollment in Composition stated above may request an exception to this policy. The request must be made in writing to the chair of the English department and must include evidence that demonstrates readiness for college composition, such as a validated portfolio of work in composition.

Procedure

n/a

Rationale

The purpose of this policy is to improve students’ success in college writing by assessing their readiness for Composition and by providing them with further preparation when necessary. Minnesota State, Mankato’s policy is based on Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board Procedure 3.3.1, Assessment for Course Placement (http://www.minnstate.edu/board/procedure/303p1.html)