The University of Arizona

Math Placement

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For Advisors

1. Math Placement Advising Resources

1.1. New Items for Fall 2024

New for Fall 2024:

  • New Prep for Calculus AP exam, PCL.  
    • A score of 3 or higher awards credit for Math 120R
    • Anticipated scores are not used for placement, so student will still need a placement through SAT/ACT or PPL for June FY orientation sessions
  • New Scores for Math 106/107
    • PPL scores for entry into Math 106/107 are now 18-100 (not 15-100)
  • ALGEBRA PLUS has ended and will not be offered after fall 2023.

Other 

  • The PPL Assessment is no longer available year round. 
    • The test will be open March 1- the first full week of fall classes and October 1 through the first full  week of spring courses. 

1.2. Math Placement Overview

The Math Department has very strict course entrance requirements and students must qualify in order to enroll in a math course or any course that uses math placement.   

  • For MATH courses at or below the level of calculus I (Math 122A/B or 125), students can qualify through
    • SAT/ACT Math scores (first year students only), expire after 1 year
    • The PPL Assessment (Math Placement Test). Scores expire after 1 year except Math 106/107 (2 years). 
    • The Math 100 final (MCLG) for Math 106, 107, 108, and 112 placement
    • or an appropriate UArizona prerequisite
    • Transfer prerequisites must be less than 2 years old
  • For courses at or above the level of Calculus II (Math 129), prerequisite courses/credit are required.   These do not expire. 
  • You can view some of these requirements on our Math Course Placement website.
    • Details about some first and second year courses can be found here. 
  • Incoming students should refer to the information in the Math Placement section of their Next Steps Center. 

1.3. PPL Resources and Information

About the PPL Assessment (Math Placement Test)

The assessment is meant to see what a student knows without a lot of review, to try to match them up with the best course based on their background.  It is not an assessment  that you pass or fail. Students do not need a high percentage in order to qualify for a course, so should not think of the score on the regular ABCDE grading scale.   

Access the PPL

  • Incoming students access the PPL through their Next Steps Center.
  • Other students access it here. 
  • The PPL is available generally March 1 through the first week of fall classes and then October 1 through the first week of spring classes. 
  • Students have to wait 72 hours between attempts at the test.

Find PPL Scores

  • Scores are processed on the hour daily from 5am to 10pm.
  • Incoming students can view scores in their Next Steps Center.
  • PPL scores are on the  Transfer Credit Report in Uaccess Student usually within 24 business hours of testing.
  • Advisors can view scores in Uaccess under Records and Enrollment, Transfer Credit Evaluation, Test Results, scroll to bottom of page (view all).

Scores

  • For most math courses, PPL scores expire after 15 months.  The only exceptions are for Math 106, 107 where scores expire after 2 years.
  • Scores may appear with a status of "NO RULE" or "REJECTED".  This does not mean the test score is rejected, only that the score does not award credit.  The status can be ignored and does not prevent registration of the score has not expired.
  • A student's PPL account expires 1 year after their first login to the PPL. 

Other

  • The Math Department reserves the right to invalidate a test score for any reason. 
  • The Math Department reserves the right to deny a retest to any student.  
  • The Math Department reserves the right to require any student to test in person.
  • If a student has not been successful in a math course, or attempted a math course several times, it does not make sense for the student to try to retake the PPL to try to skip one or more courses.  This generally leads to cheating and invalided test scores. 

Find more about the PPL though our  FAQs. 

1.4. Transfer Math Credit/Credit by Exam

Transfer Credit Info

1.5. MPLF scores for FY students

NEW MPLF SCORES
We created some new MPLF scores that correspond to college math credit.

MPLF Score Transfer Credit
541 statistics (GSTA, 163, 263) or Math 107 credit
641 Math 112 credit (less than 2 years old) 
661 Math 120R credit (less than 2 years old)
810 Math 122B transfer credit
815 Math 125 AP credit
820 Math 129 credit
830 Math 223 credit

At or after FY orientation, if you think a student should be enrolled in a course,  but was dropped or didn't get it, it may be because
they already have credit that was verified through the Math Placement Office.  Check their Next Steps Center Math Placement message if you are not sure.

Other MPLF scores

  • MPLF 100 means the student did not have a placement a few days prior to orientation and is a Math 100 placement.  This is required for pre-scheduling of Math 100 and SAS 100A
  • MPLF scores look like SAT scores (400, 500, 520, etc.)
  • Other MPLF scores that don't look like a SAT score are based on ACT MATH scores. For example, MPLF 647 might look strange, but it is based on an ACT MATH score in the Math 113, 116, 120R score range since is it above 640.   If you see a strange looking score for a FY student, you should just check their math placement in the Next Steps Center proxy or compare it to the placement range here.  For Fall incoming FY students, you can view their placement in the Next Steps Center

1.6. MCLG, Math 100 Final Exam for Placement

Math 100 and Placement

  • Students receive a MCLG score for placement if they have completed their Math 100 final. 
  • MCLG scores are not the same as PPL scores.
  • See the placement chart below for PPL vs MCLG scores
MCLG  Score PPL1/PPLN (PPL) Score Eligible Course Score Expiration 
0-24  0-14 Math 100 n/a
0-54 (Math 108/112 majors) 0-39 Math 100 n/a
25 or higher 15 or higher Math 106 or 107 2 years
55 40 or higher Math 108 or 112 15 months

Math 106 and 107 are not prerequisites to Math 108 or 112.   

1.7. Fall Enrollment in Math 129, 223, 254 pending credit for Math 122B/125 or 129

One June 1 of each year:

  • Students enrolled in a summer Math 122B equivalent course  or awaiting AP Math 125 credit can add Math 129 for fall through Uaccess Student .
  • Students enrolled in a summer Math 129 equivalent course or awaiting AP Math 129 can add Math 223 or 254 for fall through Uaccess Student.
  • Students should make sure they are enrolled in an approved/equivalent class by checking the transfer website or submitting a Transfer Course evaluation form for pre-approval. 

We will verify prerequisites starting in early August. It is the student's responsibility to submit transcripts to prevent being dropped from fall courses. Students are messaged about this a few times before classes begin and may be dropped if they fail to respond or show successful completion of the prerequisite. 

You can find AP and other math transfer credit information here. 

 

1.8. Math Requirement Designators

We have several math requirement designators attached to transfer math courses that do not have a UA equivalent, but can satisfy a requirement. 

    • RD G105 is attached to a course that will satisfy a gstrand math requirement like PHIL 110 or Math 105.  
    • RD M116 is usually attached to a course that transfers as Math 113 and means the course will satisfy UA Math 116.
    • RD M112 is attached to a course that will satisfy Math 112 requirement, but is not a prerequisite to other math or science courses.
    • RD GSTA is attached to a low level statistics course that seems to have similar content to courses like UA Math 163, Psyc 230, SBS 200, but does not have a college algebra (Math 112) or higher level prerequisite. The course can satisfy the Gstrand math requirement (Math 105), or a major statistics requirement (Math 163, Psyc 230, SBS 200), but NOT BOTH. GSTA courses cannot satisfy a Mstrand foundation math (Math 112) requirement.
    • RD BSTA is just like GSTA but can also satisfy BNAD 276.  
    • ML04 is attached to Math 112 transfer credit that is less than 2 years old and allows  registration into Math and lab science course that have a Math 112 prerequisite. 
    • ML05 is attached to Math 112 transfer credit that is less than 2 years old and allows  registration into Math and lab science course that have a  Math 120R prerequisite. 

1.9. Contact the Math Placement Office

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