The Online Math Placement Exam (ALEKS) assesses your knowledge of mathematics concepts at the undergraduate level. It is an unproctored exam taken on the ALEKS website, the web-based assessment system used for placement tests.
Math Placement Exam (ALEKS)
If your transfer credits have not been articulated for these particular IU Bloomington course(s), you must plan to take the Online Math Placement Exam prior to New Student Orientation (NSO). During your NSO advising appointment you will meet with an advisor who will interpret your score and determine your placement levels and course options. Neglecting to take the exam prior to NSO may disrupt your advising appointment and course registration. Please see the IUB Credit Transfer Service website to see how courses from previous institutions will transfer.
Academic credit for Calculus may be awarded through a proctored exam taken during New Student Orientation. Additional information about the Calculus Exemption Exam is available on the Optional Exemption Exams page of our website.
Important information about the exam
You are exempt from the Math Placement Exam ONLY under the following circumstances**:
Students with intended business majors: you must have IU Bloomington credit for either Math-M 118 or Math-M 119 or Math-M 211 to be exempt for the online Math Placement Exam.
All other students: you must have IU Bloomington credit for Math-M118 and Math-M119 OR Math-M211 to be exempt from the online Math Placement Exam.
If your transfer credits have not given you credit for these IU Bloomington course(s), you must plan to take the Math Placement Exam prior to New Student Orientation.
**If you plan to enroll in CHEM-C 117, CHEM-S 117, MATH-T 101, or EDUC-N 101, you must plan to take the Math Placement Exam, regardless of your intended area of study.
You are required to take the Online Math Placement Exam (ALEKS) only once, but you can choose to take it up to three times, and you will have the opportunity to improve your score by taking the online tutorials that are built into the ALEKS system. These are mandatory for retesting for IU Bloomington and could take several hours to complete.
You will complete your test on the secure ALEKS testing site, which is not part of the IU web domain. When you click on the login button below, you may see an IU Login screen. Just enter your IU username and passphrase. If you don't see the IU Login screen, don't worry—it just means you have already authenticated.
You must complete the exam in one sitting without breaks and should not log in until you are ready to test without interruptions. Once you log in, you must begin testing and cannot log out and resume the exam later.
For technical issues with ALEKS, please use the ALEKS support form.
Your academic advisor will provide you with information about the interpretation of your score and placement at New Student Orientation. Information is also available on the Math department's website.
Fees for undergraduate placement and exemption exams are updated each year on July 1. If you have questions about these fees, please email iubexams@iu.edu.
Undergraduate Placement and Exemption
IU Bloomington Online Placement Exam 1: $54.00*
IU Bloomington Biology Exemption Exam 2: No Cost
IU Bloomington Calculus Placement Exam 2: No Cost
*The non-refundable IU Bloomington Online Placement Exam Fee covers mathematics and foreign language online placement exams that are overseen by BEST and that are taken unproctored by students. The fee will be assessed and appear on a student's bursar bill the first time a student takes an online placement exam in a testing year (March–February), and it will cover any additional such exams taken during that year.
Ready to take the ALEKS Math Placement Exam?
You must take the ALEKS Math Placement Exam assigned to your campus. Please find links to all campus exams below.
The link below to the ALEKS Math Placement Exam is only for students who intend to enroll at IU Bloomington or who are currently enrolled at IU Bloomington. If you are planning to enroll or attend another campus, you must use the appropriate campus exam.
You will complete your test on the secure ALEKS testing site, which is not part of the IU web domain. Refer to the above FAQ section with questions or email iubexams@iu.edu.
IU East students should access Math Placement Exam information at the IU East Testing Center website.
IU Columbus students should access Math Placement Exam information at the IU Columbus Placement Testing website.
Fort Wayne students should access Math Placement Exam information at the IPFW Testing Services website.
IU Indianapolis students should access Math Placement Exam information at the IU Indianapolis Placement Testing website.
IU Kokomo students should access Math Placement Exam information at the IU Kokomo Testing Center website.
IU Northwest students should access Math Placement Exam information at the IU Northwest Placement Testing and Assessment website.
IU South Bend students should access Math Placement Exam information at the IU South Bend Course Placement Website.
IU Southeast students should access Math Placement Exam information at the IU Southeast Student Success Center website.
Please contact First Year Experience (FYE) for more information. Note that the Bloomington Math Placement Exam applies only to the IU Bloomington campus and that you will be charged by IU Bloomington for the exam if you complete it through this website.