ALEKS Mathematics Placement
ALEKS PPL (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) is an AI-powered tool that evaluates your mathematical skills, identifies your strengths and weaknesses, and, if needed, offers personalized learning to help you prepare for course placement. The assessment covers topics from basic math through precalculus. After completing the assessment, you'll receive access to a targeted Prep and Learning Module to review concepts and strengthen your skills.
Please remember: ALEKS is an interactive assessment, not a test. Its goal is to determine what you know and help you improve. There's no penalty for incorrect answers, but it is important to take the assessment seriously and answer honestly to get an accurate picture of your abilities.
Purpose of the Assessment
The purpose of ALEKS Mathematics Placement is to assess your individual mathematics skills and place you into the most appropriate college mathematics course for your success. The tool accurately measures your math foundation and creates a personalized learning module to review and refresh knowledge that may have grown stale.
To get the most out of the assessment, be honest about your skill level. There are 3 possible placement levels requiring ALEKS (but not Calculus AP exam): MATH 112A, MATH 111/113, or MATH 119A/122. It is very important that you are placed in a course which is not too hard (allowing you to succeed) and not too easy (so you don’t waste your time and money).
Using outside help (friends, family, internet resources) will only lead to placement in a course that may be too advanced, making your degree path harder than necessary.
Access to the Tool
You will receive free of charge access to É«ÖÐÉ«'s ALEKS Mathematics Placement upon accepting É«ÖÐÉ« admission offer. Taking ALEKS Mathematics Placement as soon as you are able will allow you to be placed and successful in the right course, expediting your path to complete your degrees.
You can take the ALEKS PPL assessment on any computer with internet access. Students can use the Prep and Learning Module independently and are allowed to retake the assessment up to three times to improve their placement. Please note that the entire ALEKS PPL process for STEM students (College of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics) must be completed by July 7, 2025.
All freshmen in the following areas of study should start ALEKS Mathematics Placement on their own as soon as possible:
- science
- engineering
- mathematics
- environmental science and policy
- economics
- business
- undeclared
To take advantage of this placement tool, you must complete your ALEKS Mathematics Placement at least 2 weeks prior to your academic advisement and registration date.
How to Register
To register for ALEKS Mathematics Placement, follow the instructions below.
Step 1
Log into with your É«ÖÐÉ« student email address and password, then click the ALEKS button.
Step 2
Click the "É«ÖÐÉ« Mathematics Placement" link.
Step 3
Click the "Get Started" button for a quick tutorial on how to use ALEKS. After the tutorial, you will be able to start the assessments. Please finish all 4 ALEKS assessments independently.
FAQ about ALEKS Mathematics Placement
Tap on a question below to read the answer.
Once you have accepted our admission offer and paid the registration fee you will be able to access ALEKS Mathematics Placement through the "ALEKS Mathematics Placement" tile in the . Please see "How to Register" above for instructions.
On your own, take the initial diagnostics (also known as the first assessment) to determine your current mathematics knowledge. This assessment generally takes 60 to 120 minutes and has no more than 30 questions. ALEKS Mathematics Placement uses your work in the initial diagnostics to determine what topics you need to learn in the Prep and Learning Module in order for you to improve your mathematics knowledge.
There is a 48 hour cool-off period between any two consecutive assessments. During this period, work in the Prep and Learning Module to refresh and improve your mathematics skills for at least 5 hours. The more time you spend on the Prep and Learning Module, the better your score will be on the next assessment. After you have spent at least 5 hours, take another assessment to obtain a new ALEKS score. Ideally, you want to see an improved score upon each successive assessment.
For dates and deadlines please see the Summer Guidance for Incoming Freshmen for the college of your major.
Continue working in ALEKS until you get the score they need for the course appropriate for your major. Your highest ALEKS score will be used for placement.
An ALEKS Mathematics Placement score of 60 is needed to place into precalculus courses:
- MATH 111 - Precalculus Trigonometry
- MATH 113 - Precalculus Algebra
- MATH 115 - Calculus for Business
An ALEKS Mathematics Placement score of 80 is needed to place into calculus I courses:
- MATH 119A - Survey of Calculus I
- MATH 122 – Calculus I
Because your ALEKS Mathematics Placement score will be used for placement, it is important that you complete the assessment honestly and without outside help. An inaccurate placement (either too low or too high) will negatively impact your grades and academic progress.
To determine what your ALEKS Mathematics Placement score goal is based on your major, please use our .
Exemptions from ALEKS Mathematics Placement can be made if you have qualifying SAT/ACT, IB, CLEP, or AP Calculus scores. Please check the GE B4 course requirements for your major, and then find your math placement based on your SAT/ACT, IB, CLEP, or AP Calculus scores in the Course Recommendation Guide.
Only valid in summer months from May 25 to July 31: You may contact our student assistant by email at math.placement@csulb.edu.
