Skip to main content
Academics / Undergraduate Program / 100 Level Courses / Placement in mathematics courses

Placement in mathematics courses

Information for all students

Mathematics is part of the program of most undergraduate students at the University of Kentucky. Which courses you need will depend on your background, interests, and likely major, as well as your preparation. Advisors can provide help in choosing the appropriate mathematics course for your program. For a general guide to mathematics 100-level courses offered, see this chart.

Departmental guidelines on placement are summarized in the document linked here. We use the Math ACT score (or SAT equivalent), and High School GPA to create a number, MathIndex3, which we believe to be a more reliable predictor of  success in our courses. We also have placement guidelines based on ACT, SAT, and high school transcript information. Your placement can also be affected by AP credit, transfer credit, and other placement exams or coursework.

Students who plan to take a math course are encouraged to use ALEKS to review the mathematics they learned in prior courses. Students may also take a proctored ALEKS exam in order to earn placement into more difficult courses. More information about the ALEKS exam is available at 

https://studentsuccess.uky.edu/transformative-learning/aleks-placement-testing-steps .