University Assessment & Testing

Science Placement & Remediation

Every first-time entering OSU student (new freshman or transfer student with fewer than 24 hours) is provided an Entry Level Placement Assessment (ELPA) report that contains recommendations for course placement.  These recommendations follow OSU guidelines that have been approved by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE).  OSRHE policy on student assessment and remediation also requires students with basic academic skills deficiencies or lacking curriculum requirements in four subject areas (English, mathematics, reading, and science) to remediate those deficiencies.  OSU also places enrollment restrictions on certain courses that must be satisfied by meeting placement requirements.  The following placement information pertains to science courses.

Enrollment Restrictions,  Placement Requirements, and Required Remediation

There are no enrollment restrictions or placement requirements for most science courses for a student who meets the following criteria:

• The student's ACT Science subscore is 19 or greater, OR

• The student's PGI coefficient for science is 2.0 or greater.  The PGI (Predicted Grade Index) coefficient represents a student's predicted grade in selected entry-level courses.  Predictions are based on formulas using high school GPA, high school core curriculum grades, and highest ACT composite scores.

CHEM 1215 Placement Exception: CHEM 1215 has an enrollment restriction. A student can enroll in a section of CHEM 1215 if he/she meets ONE of the following placement criteria:

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1483, OR

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1513, OR

• The student has earned a score of 56 or greater on the OSU Math Placement Exam.

CHEM 1314 Placement Exception: CHEM 1314 has an enrollment restriction.  A student can enroll in a section of CHEM 1314 if he/she meets ONE of the following placement criteria:

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1483, OR

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1513, OR

• The student has earned a score of 56 or greater on the OSU Math Placement Exam.

CHEM 1414 Placement Exception: CHEM 1414 has an enrollment restriction.  A student can enroll in a section of CHEM 1414 if he/she meets ONE of the following placement criteria:

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1483, OR

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1513, OR

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1613, OR

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in a higher level MATH course, OR

• The student has earned a score of 56 or greater on the OSU Math Placement Exam.

CS 1113 Placement Exception: CS 1113 has an enrollment restriction.  A student can enroll in a section of CS 1113 if he/she meets ONE of the following placement criteria:

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1513, OR

• The student has earned a score of 56 or greater on the OSU Math Placement Exam.

GEOL 1114 Placement Exception: GEOL 1114 has an enrollment restriction.  A student can enroll in a section of GEOL 1114 if he/she meets ONE of the following placement criteria:

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1513, OR

• The student has earned a score of 56 or greater on the OSU Math Placement Exam.

PHYS 1114 Placement Exception: PHYS 1114 has an enrollment restriction.  A student can enroll in a section of PHYS 1114 if he/she meets ONE of the following placement criteria:

• The student has earned a grade of "C" or better in MATH 1513, OR

• The student has earned a score of 56 or greater on the OSU Math Placement Exam.

OSU requires the completion of a remedial/developmental science course such as UNIV 0163 (or, prior to Fall 2022, UNIV 0153) at OSU or equivalent when:

• The student's ACT Science subscore is below 19 AND the student's PGI coefficient for science is below 2.0, OR

• Curricular deficiencies in science are indicated.  Curricular deficiencies occur if the student did not complete the required number of high school units in the subject area.

Note:  Students with enrollment restrictions due to a science remediation requirement may enroll in a college-level science course if they are concurrently enrolled in UNIV 0163.

OSRHE policy further requires that a student must satisfactorily complete the required remedial/developmental science course within the first 24 hours of college-level coursework at OSU (excluding repeats, pass/fail and 0-level courses).  A student who does not remediate the deficiency during this time period must attend another institution until the work is completed.

Alternate Methods for Science Remediation

Students may also satisfy the science remediation requirement by:

• Scoring a 19 or greater on the Science section of the National ACT Exam

• Scoring a 19 or greater on the Science section of the ACT On-Campus Exam

• Scoring 2.0 or higher on the science PGI coefficient (Note: PGI scores cannot be used to meet curricular deficiencies)

• Successfully completing UNIV 0163 (or, prior to Fall 2022, UNIV 0153) or equivalent