Course competency requirements

How to meet ASU course competency requirements

Competency requirements may be met with high school work, college work or test scores. These requirements must be met regardless of your major or the number of transferable hours you have earned. Students must earn a minimum 2.00 GPA in each competency area.

Admission may be granted with one deficiency in no more than two competency areas. Deficiencies in both math and laboratory science are not acceptable.

For exceptions to the competency requirements, see below.

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English competency requirement

Meet one of the following:

• Four years of high school English (composition- or literature-based).
• Minimum test score of 21 on ACT English, or 580 on SAT evidence-based reading and writing.
• One transferable 3-credit college English composition course.

English composition placement

All new students will be placed in First-Year Composition ENG 101. Students whose native language is not English will be enrolled in ENG 107. Enrollment in ENG 105, Advanced First Year composition, is based on placement test scores.

If you have college-level transfer credit or test credit equivalent to ASU’s first year composition course(s), that credit will be considered in placement. You can search ASU’s equivalency database for transfer credit at tcg.asu.edu. If applicable, be sure to include any of the above when you register for the Academic Orientation Session.

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Mathematics competency requirement

Meet one of the following:

• Four years of high school courses: one year each of algebra I, geometry, algebra II and an advanced math class for which algebra II is a prerequisite.
• Minimum test score of 24 on ACT math, or 580 on SAT math.
• One transferable 3-credit college math course for which at least intermediate algebra is a prerequisite.

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Laboratory science competency requirement

You may meet one of the following or any combination of the three as long as you have three different laboratory-based sciences.

• Three years of different high school laboratory sciences.

  Lab sciences should be an entire year in length. Please select three from the following list: biology, chemistry, earth science or physics.

  A laboratory-based integrated science course may be allowed to substitute for one of the three lab sciences.

  Additionally, a laboratory-based advanced science course may be allowed to substitute for one of the three lab sciences.   An advanced science class is a lab science such as an advanced placement course, a higher level international baccalaureate course, or other honors course for which the previous lab science course is a prerequisite and is generally taken in the last few years of high school.

• Minimum test scores in three standardized tests from three different subject matters.

  The following tests may be taken: SAT II subject test score in chemistry-600, biology-590, physics-620 or ACT test score in science-20.

• Three transferable 4-credit college laboratory science courses from the following: biology, chemistry, earth science or physics.

  An integrated laboratory science or advanced level laboratory-based science may be substituted for one of these laboratory subjects.

Laboratory Science Courses (for online high schools only)

ASU requires students to complete three different lab sciences. In order to determine if your lab sciences meet our lab science requirement, we may need additional information from you. If we require additional information once your admission application reaches our evaluation team, you will see a Priority Task displayed on My ASU called Course Description. 

You can provide the additional information required through one of the following:

• Have your high school submit your lab sciences to the courseapproval.asu.edu website for ASU to review if it is not already listed on the website.
• Submit a course description form for each lab science taken in an accredited online high school environment if not already approved for your entire high school to ASU’s homeschool representative.

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Second language competency requirement

Meet one of the following:

• Two years of the same high school second language.
• Attainment of minimum score on a national standardized second language test or placement into a third semester college second language class based on university placement exam results.
• Two transferable 3- or 4-credit, college-level courses in the same second language.

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Social science competency requirement

Meet one of the following options from Section A and one from Section B:

Section A

• One year of high school American history.
• Minimum SAT II subject test score of 560 on American history/social studies.
• One transferable 3-credit college American history course.

Section B

• One year of high school social science (e.g., European history, world history, economics, sociology, geography, government, psychology or anthropology).
• Minimum SAT II subject test score of 580 on world history.
• One transferable 3-credit college social science course.

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Fine arts or career and technical education competency requirement

Meet one of the following:

• One year (or a combination of two semesters) of high school fine arts or career and technical education.
• One transferable 3-credit college fine arts course.