Placement Exam Requirements
All new undergraduate and transfer students at UTC may be required to take UTC placement exams in mathematics and writing. Placement exams are scheduled during all freshman and transfer student orientation sessions. Those who do not attend an orientation session are strongly advised to take placement exams during the first week of their first semester and are required to take the exams by term’s end.
In general, the only students who are exempt from taking one or more of the placement exams are students with advanced placement, or transfer students meeting one of the following criteria:
Mathematics
Grade of C or better for developmental algebra (Math 105, 106, or 107), Mathematics 123, college algebra (Math 131 or 135), trigonometry (Math 144 or 145), or calculus (Math 136, 150, 151/152, etc.).
If credit in these courses is several years old, students who need to enroll in mathematics at UTC are encouraged to take the placement test for advisement purposes. Students with credit for mathematics courses other than those specified above are not exempt from taking the mathematics placement test.
Writing
Students who have an ACT English subscore of 19 or better (SAT Verbal 460) are not required to take the exam and will be placed automatically into English 121.
Students who have an ACT English subscore of 18 or lower (SAT Verbal 459) are required to take the exam to determine placement.
Students who have an ACT English subscore of 28 or better may opt to take the exam to determine whether they may waive the English 121 requirement and enroll in English 122.
Reading
Students with an Enhanced ACT composite score of 18 or better (SAT total of 840 or above) are exempt from the reading course.
Students with an Enhanced ACT composite score of 17 or lower must enroll in Education 105.
Students without either the Enhanced ACT or SAT will be required to take the reading placement exam. Students with a raw score of 49 or lower may be required to take University Studies 100 after completion of Education 105.
Foreign Language
All incoming students who have three years or more or high school study in a single foreign language (and no college level study of the language) and who wish to continue study in that language will be required to take a placement test to determine their level of competence in that language. A student should begin study of the language in question at the level established by the placement exam.
Retention and Continuation Standards
In order to continue in residence at UTC, students must earn a minimum grade point average in accordance with the following scale of attempted hours:
| Hours Attempted | GPA Required |
|---|---|
| 1-23 | 1.0 |
| 24-39 | 1.5 |
| 40-55 | 1.8 |
| 56 and above | 2.0 |
Students who achieve the required cumulative grade point average for the hours attempted are in good standing. Those who fail to achieve the required average will be subject to the following action:
- Students will be placed on academic probation after the first failure to earn the required grade point average. If the probation is not removed, academic suspension for one semester will follow. (The complete summer session is considered a period of suspension.)
- Probation is removed by raising the cumulative grade point average to the required standards. If a 2.0 average for the semester of probation is achieved, but the cumulative grade point average is not raised to the required standard, probation remains. If a 2.0 average for the semester is not achieved, academic suspension for one semester will follow.
- Freshmen admitted “On Condition” enter on probation for continuation purposes and must earn a minimum 1.0 grade point average in the first semester of attendance. Conditionally admitted students who do not earn at least a 1.0 grade point average in the first semester will also be subject to suspension.
- Students will be placed on probation when they return after the period of suspension. They must either achieve a 2.0 average in the semester following their return or raise their cumulative average to acceptable standards. If they fail to achieve either standard, they will be dismissed for an indefinite period and may not apply for consideration for readmission for one calendar year.
- Suspended students who enroll in other colleges or in correspondence courses during their semester of suspension must earn at least a 2.0 average on all hours attempted during this period in order to be eligible for automatic readmission to UTC. Students not meeting the 2.0 requirements must apply for readmission through the Admissions/Readmissions Committee.
- Any students permitted to enroll despite the fact that his or her cumulative average is below continuation standards will be on probation.
University policy requires that students who have been suspended for academic reasons may not enroll at the university for one semester from the time they are suspended. If they wish to reenter, they must complete an undergraduate admissions application available in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions or from www.utc.edu/admissions. Students who have been suspended from another institution of higher education may not enroll at UTC until one semester after the suspension date. Students dismissed or suspended from another institution must also submit an application for undergraduate admissions.
