What is placement assessment?

Placement assessment  helps determine your readiness for college level work in the areas of math, reading, and writing. Your academic advisor will consider placement scores, as well as prior high school and college grades to build your course schedule.

The placement assessment is required for students seeking admission into a professional technical program. Placement assessment is also required for any academic student 21 years or older who has not taken the ACT/SAT in the past three years and is not transferring in math or English college coursework. The placement assessment is necessary in order to advise you on course selection prior to registration.

We use the COMPASS assessment placement, developed by the American College Testing Program (ACT). Assessment is administered on a regular basis by appointment only through the Center for New Directions. They are located in Reid Centennial Hall, Room 23, which is in the basement. Their phone number is 208-792-2331 or toll free (866) 263-4968.

The cost of the placement assessment is $15.00 for first-time testers and $5.00 for a retest. You can arrange for fee payment at the cashier’s window in the Administration Building. Your paid receipt and photo ID will gain you access to the placement assessment.

If you are taking the assessment test at LCSC, but want the scores sent to another college/university, there is an additional $5.00 processing fee. You will need to supply the complete mailing address or fax number of the college/university that will be receiving the scores.

The placement assessment is offered on a computer and is not timed.

The average student completes placement assessment test in 1 hour, but it can take up to 4 hours.

If you would benefit from academic brush-up, there are a variety of services both before and after registration, which are listed here:

Adult Basic Education before registration RCH 208 (208) 792-2238

Learning Resource Center after registration SGC 28 (208) 792-2257

Student Support Services after registration RCH 203 (208) 792-2300

Math Lab after registration MLH B51 (208) 792-2320

Writing Center after registration SPH 115 (208) 799-2433

Many students complete their academic brush-up through the adult learning center before they start classes. They tell us it shortens the length of time to complete their degree and helps them do better in college coursework. For technical students it often results in avoiding an extra semester to complete their program. After academic brush-up you pay a $5.00 retest fee to test out of areas you received help in.

If you visit the COMPASS website, located at http://www.act.org/compass/sample/index.html, you can step through sample questions to help prepare you for the COMPASS exam.