Placement Policy

The placement policies of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) can be found in the Board of Regents Handbook, Title 4, Chapter 16, Section 1. 

TITLE 4 - Codification of Board Policy Statements - CHAPTER 16

Section 1. NSHE Placement Policy

The placement policies of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) are intended to ensure a foundation of knowledge and competencies that will assist students in successfully pursuing and attaining an academic degree. Students are strongly encouraged to prepare for the rigors of higher education prior to entering the NSHE.

1. Pursuant to federal regulations, institutions may make ability-to-benefit determinations using federally approved tests and passing scores to receive federal student aid. The NSHE reserves the right to cancel the admission or registration of any individual whose attendance at a university or college, in the opinion of the appropriate administrative officer and the President, would not be mutually beneficial, as determined by the ability-to-benefit test, to that individual and the university or college.
2. Initial Placement of Students into English and Mathematics Courses.
   1. Exception from Remedial Instruction: Degree-seeking students who meet or exceed the minimum English or mathematics scores on any one of the college readiness assessments listed below must be placed into a college-level course in that subject and are exempt from being placed into any form of remedial instruction.
      1. Was continuously enrolled in an English course and a mathematics course in his or her senior year of high school unless an exception is approved by an NSHE institution; and
      2. Enrolls in an NSHE institution after high school in any term(summer/fall/winter/spring) during the academic year following high school graduation.

      Institutions may use other factors including high school transcript, grade point average, or additional testing to determine the appropriate first college-level course. Institutions are not required to honor initial placement decisions pursuant to this subsection for students who fail to remain continuously enrolled in required mathematics and English courses until the core mathematics and English requirements are completed.

      College Readiness Assessment - English
      Test	Minimum Score
      ACT English or ACT English Language Arts (ELA)	18 (English) or 20 (ELA)
      SAT Critical Reading - SAT Test Date Prior to March 2016	500
      SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing - SAT Test Date March 2016 and later	480
      Smarter Balanced	2583 (Achievement Level 3)
      PARCC	Level 4 Score
      College Readiness Assessment - Mathematics
      Test	Minimum Score
      ACT Mathematics	22
      SAT Math - SAT Test Date Prior to March 2016	500
      SAT Math - SAT Test Date March 2016 and later	530
      Smarter Balanced	2628 (Achievement Level 3)
      PARCC	Level 4 Score

   2. Placement of Students without an Exemption from Remedial Instruction. For degreeseeking students who have not met the English or mathematics college readiness assessment score on one of the tests in subsection a or who have not taken any of the tests in subsection a, institutions must develop an assessment and placement policy that ensures students who place at high school or above levels have an opportunity to enroll in and complete gateway college courses in mathematics and English within one academic year. The assessment and placement policy may use multiple measures, including, but not limited to placement exams; high school GPA; course selection and performance in the senior year of high school; and intended postsecondary program of study to determine appropriate placement into one the following options:
      1. Placement into college-level courses without any additional academic support or remediation;
      2. Placement into a co-requisite course where academic support is provided to students while enrolled in college-level gateway courses;
      3. Placement into a single semester of remedial education that is followed by either a gateway college-level course or co-requisite gateway course option; or
      4. For students who are seeking a STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) degree or program of study that requires college algebra or pre-calculus and who place at the high school Algebra 1 level (e.g. Math095), placement into a three-semester sequence culminating in the gateway college algebra course. The sequence may include co-requisite coursework.
3. To promote completion of gateway courses within the first academic year, all degree seeking students must be continuously enrolled in appropriate mathematics and English courses until the institutional core curriculum mathematics and English requirements are completed. Institutions may authorize exceptions to this requirement if the exception does not affect the student’s ability to complete the gateway course within the first academic year.
4. Requirements for college readiness and college-level course enrollment shall be publicized by each institution to the appropriate Nevada school districts. In addition, the Chancellor will work with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to publicize these requirements to all Nevada school districts and to establish educational strategies to encourage high school standards, graduation requirements, and assessments that are aligned with college and workforce readiness expectations.
5. For purposes of this section, "college-level" means courses that are numbered 100-level and above.

(B/R 9/18)