Placement Without Credit

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Language Placement

Students who have completed two or more years of French, German, Latin, or Spanish in high school or one or more semesters of German at another college or whose native tongue is one of these languages are required to take a language examination for placement without credit before enrolling in a course in that language. 

Language Placement with credit is available for Arabic, Hindi, and Vietnamese.

Please review the Credit by Exam brochure, to determine language credit that is awarded based on Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and other Test Programs.

For additional information please visit: ussc.uh.edu

Texas Success Initiative (TSI)

First-Time-In-College Students

English Placement

Incoming freshmen should enroll in ENGL 1303 . Students who have not met the TSI requirement in Writing shoudl consult their academic advisors for a success plan. 

The normal sequence of English courses for international students and nonnative speakers of English who have completed fewer than four years of schooling in an American secondary school is ENGL 1309  and ENGL 1310 . All nonnative speakers of English must take the Placement Examination for Nonnative Speakers of English (PENNSE) to determine their proper placement in English courses. Based on this examination students may be permitted to enroll in ENGL 1309  or may be required to complete ENGL 1300  or equivalent in preparation for ENGL 1309 . Students who do not qualify for placement in ENGL 1300  must seek compensatory remedial work. They will be retested prior to admission to the regular sequence of English courses at the University of Houston.

For information about compensatory work below the level of ENGL 1300 , students may contact the Language and Culture Center, 713-743-3030, or the Department of English, 713-743-3004. For information about the reentry test, call the Department of English, 713-743-3004.

Mathematics Placement

All freshmen entering from high school and freshmen transferring into UH with less than 15 hours of college credits are required to take the mathematics placement test.

Mathematics placement examinations are offered through Courseware and can be accessed from the following Web address: www.casa.uh.edu/. Deadlines for Courseware exams are indicated on the Courseware site.

Additional information about the Math Placement is available at: http://www.online.math.uh.edu/MathPlacement/index.html and http://www.casa.uh.edu/casa/MPFAQ.htm

Those who enroll (register) for a course for which they lack the proper placement score may be dropped from the course and will be required to reenroll (reregister) at the appropriate level.

Reading Placement

Students who fail the reading section of the TSI exam must enroll in READ 1300  and must not enroll in PSYC 1300 , HIST 1377 , HIST 1378 , POLS 1336 , POLS 1337 , ENGL 2301 , ENGL 2302 , ENGL 2303 , or ENGL 2304  until they have passed the READ 1300 .

Chemistry 1331 Pre-Assessment

To gauge chemistry and math preparation for CHEM 1331, students are required to take a Preparation Assessment (PA).

Additional information is available at: http://ussc.uh.edu/tests-offered.aspx?testname=CHEM%201331

International Students

All international students who are nonnative speakers of English and are new to the University of Houston are required to satisfy English proficiency requirements for admission by taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). For placement into English courses, the Placement Examination for Nonnative Speakers of English (PENNSE) is required. Placement of all students into courses in English as a second language (ESL) is made by the ESL Committee. The normal sequence of courses for entering freshman international students is ENGL 1309 , ENGL 1310 . The fee for the PENNSE is $8.00. For information on the testing schedule, please call the University Testing Services at 713-743-5444 or visit their Web site, www.las.uh.edu/uts.

Students who do not show satisfactory performance on the PENNSE are required to take ENGL 1300  or equivalent, regardless of previous credit in English courses. Students whose scores reveal the need for work in English below the level of ENGL 1300  must seek compensatory remedial work. They will be retested before being permitted to enroll in the normal sequence of English courses at the University of Houston. For information about compensatory work below the level of ENGL 1300 , students may consult with the Language and Culture Center, 713-743-3030, or the Department of English, 713-743-3004.