Testing Services
Placement Tests
After applying to SCC and completing the pre-enrollment info session, you will meet with your Student Success Advocate. The advocate will help determine if placement tests are needed. SCC requires placement scores for English and some math classes. In addition, some academic programs require minimum scores for acceptance in to the program. Placement scores must be within two years of enrollment in the course or program.
Every student needing an English class will need to complete the Next Generation (NG) Write Placer. The student will also need either the NG Writing, ACT English, or SAT Writing & Language score. Only ALEKS (math) is accepted if the math course you need requires a placement score.
The Next Generation Accuplacer and ALEKS are given free of charge to our incoming SCC students. Not sure if you need to complete placement assessments? Contact your Student Success Advocate to help clarify. (319) 208-5010 (WB) or (319) 313-1923 (KEO)
Call to schedule your placement appointment:
Keokuk Campus: (319) 313-1943
West Burlington Campus: (319) 208-5155
Mount Pleasant Center: (319) 385-8012 or (319) 208-5314
Good luck! Don’t stress or cram for these tests. We use the scores to make sure you are placed in the classes that are right for you.
About the Tests
Below is information you may find helpful about each of our placement assessments. The most important thing to keep in mind is to stay stress-free when you take the assessments. We want to make sure we place you in the class that fits you best!
Download the SCC Math and Writing Course Placement Charts.
The Next-Generation ACCUPLACER website has practice tests that help you prepare before you visit the Testing Center for your testing needs.
Here is a brief description of the Next-Generation ACCUPLACER placement assessment:
Reading
Next-Generation Reading assesses the test-taker's ability to derive meaning from a range of texts and to determine the meaning of words and phrases in short and extended contexts. Passages on the test cover a range of content areas, writing modes, and complexities. Both single and paired passages are included. Four broad knowledge and skills categories are assessed:
- Information and Ideas
- Rhetoric
- Synthesis
- Vocabulary
Writing
Next-Generation Writing evaluates a test-taker's ability to revise and edit multi-paragraph text. Questions cover two broad knowledge and skills categories, each containing three subcategories:
Expression of Ideas
- Development
- Organization
- Effective Language Use
Standard English Conventions
- Sentence Structure
- Usage
- Punctuation
There isn't a study guide available for the math portion of the placement assessment. We suggest that you go to Khan Academy (or any other math-based instructional tool) in order to prepare for the placement assessment in Math. You are not allowed to use a calculator on some of the questions within the test, so brushing up on the proper formulas/processes is usually a good starting point. ALEKS avoids multiple-choice questions. With that said, after the first time that you take the ALEKS placement assessment, there are learning modules available that you can utilize at home through the ALEKS website.
ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics he/she is most ready to learn. As a student works through a learning module, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student to ensure that the topics learned are also retained.
Contact Us
West Burlington Campus Admissions
Call: (319) 208-5155
Text: (319) 250-7144
Email: admissionswb@scciowa.edu
Keokuk Campus Admissions
Call: (319) 313-1923
Text: (319) 220-3266
Email: admissionskeo@scciowa.edu