ALEKS Frequently Asked Questions

The Placement Assessment is used to determine the mathematics course in which you will have the greatest success. Upon completion of the Placement Assessments, your scores will be assessed and you will be placed in the appropriate course.

All undergraduate students entering UMassD take the Placement Assessment

Take the Placement Assessment after you have been admitted to UMassD and before May 15 for Fall enrollees and December 1 for Spring enrollees to have your first semester schedule when you attend Orientation. Start by May 1 (November 15) to allow time to assess, practice and reassess by the deadline. 

• Yes, ALEKS uses Respondus Monitoring software which will require you to use a web camera and will flag instances of suspected cheating. All such instances will be reviewed by University staff. We reserve the right to require a student to retake their placement assessment in a proctored environment on campus. If you do not have access to a computer with a webcam, please contact placement@umassd.edu to schedule a time to come to campus for your assessment.

Use of ALEKS is included in your student fees.

Yes, you can check your setup for the LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor (webcam) on the ALEKS website.

ALEKS PPL is an online, adaptive system that covers a broad spectrum of mathematics topics. The length of the Placement Assessment will vary, but can be up to 30 questions. You will see some, but not all, of the math you have learned in high school. It is a Placement Assessment, not a preview of math courses at UMassD. It is designed to identify if you are prepared for a particular course. After you take your first Placement Assessment, you will have the opportunity to review and master additional topics to reassess and improve your placement.

Topics covered

• Real numbers (including fractions, integers, and percentages)
• Equations and inequalities (including linear equations, linear inequalities, systems of linear equations, and quadratic equations),
• Linear and quadratic functions (including graphs and functions, linear functions, and parabolas), exponents and polynomials (including integer exponents, polynomial arithmetic, factoring, and polynomial equations), rational expressions (including rational equations and rational functions
• Radical expressions (including higher roots and rational exponents)
• Exponentials and logarithms (including function compositions and inverse functions, properties of logarithms, and logarithmic equations)
• Geometry and trigonometry (including perimeter, area, and volume, coordinate geometry, trigonometric functions, and identities and equations).

ALEKS PPL Assessment is not a time-restricted assessment. Most students complete the assessment in 60-90 minutes. If you need to exit the assessment and return to it later, your work will be saved and you will pick up where you left off. Once you begin, you need to complete the assessment within 24 hours.

Your placement result (overall score) is a number between 0 and 100. It represents the percentage of topics ALEKS has identified you have mastered.

Course placement is dependent on your score and your major or area of study. For details please see the math placement course guide.

You will receive your score immediately upon completion of your Placement Assessment.

Your placement result is valid for up to 12 months.

This is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the Prep and Learning Modules offered within ALEKS PPL. An individualized study plan will be created based on your performance on the Initial Placement Assessment. ALEKS will identify what you know and what you are ready to learn next so you can brush up on lost knowledge. 

No, you must achieve the minimum placement result to take each corresponding class. We want you to be successful in your first math class and subsequent classes that depend on the skills and knowledge from that class. Failing a class only costs you time and money.

Congratulations! Continue to use your Prep and Learning Module to improve your chances for success. The placement result required is the minimum preparation for your course. Take advantage of the individualized review and learning features in ALEKS to get a better grade in your class.

Yes, everyone may take up to 2 Placement Assessments. To make the second attempt worthwhile, we require that you work for a minimum of 5 hours in your ALEKS Prep and Learning Module before the second Placement Assessment will become available to you. We advise you to break up the 5 hours of practice over several days to make it most beneficial. Students who complete the Summer Bridge Program will have an opportunity to take a third assessment after completing the program. 

You must wait 24 hours between your first and second Placement Assessments and complete a minimum of 5 hours of practice in your ALEKS Prep and Learning Module. There is generally no benefit to re-taking the Placement Assessment immediately after completing a prior attempt. You cannot improve your results by simply re-taking the Placement Assessment without spending time in the Prep and Learning Module to refresh material that you may have forgotten.

You will have 12 months of access to your Prep and Learning module. Access to the prep course will not begin until you select start on the top of your screen. DO NOT select into the Prep and Learning Module until you are ready to start working.

No, access to a Prep and Learning Module is included along with the additional Placement Assessments.

Yes, you can retake the Placement assessment one additional time to improve your score after working for a minimum of 5 hours in your Prep and Learning Module. 

While working in a Prep and Learning Module, you will periodically complete a Knowledge Check to make sure you have mastered the topics you gained in Learning Mode. If you do not show mastery during the Knowledge Check, the topics will be added back into your Learning Pie so you can review them again. 

No. You must complete a new Placement Assessment to change your placement result. Select the placement tab in the upper right corner of the ALEKS page to start a new Placement Assessment.

Simply close the browser, or log out and log back in. ALEKS will resume the Placement Assessment exactly where you left off, with no loss of your previous answers.

ALEKS Customer support