California State University
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ELM Requirement

Newly admitted California State University students must show they are math ready by meeting the Entry Level Mathematics (ELM) requirement. There are several ways to meet this requirement, all of which are described below.

Ways to Meet the ELM Requirement

  • Early Assessment Program (EAP) – Receiving a status of "READY FOR COLLEGE (Exempt)" indicates that students have met the ELM requirement.
  • National Standardized Tests - Earning a qualifying score on a national standardized math placement test fulfills the requirement.

    TestRequired score for ELM requirement
    SAT
    • 550 or more on the mathematics portion of the SAT Reasoning Test
    • 550 or more on a mathematics subject test (level 1 or level 2)
    ACT
    • 23 or more on the mathematics test
    College Board AP
    • 3 or more on Advanced Placement Calculus or Statistics

  • Community College Course – Earning a grade of C or better in a qualifying CSU general education math course (quantitative reasoning, B-4) at a community college satisfies the ELM requirement.
  • ELM Examination - Unless students meet the requirement one of the ways above, they must take the ELM examination before their first term at the CSU. If they pass the exam, they meet the ELM requirement. If they do not pass, they must take non-credit remedial math classes, as explained in the Warning below.

Warning for not meeting the EPT requirement

Warning: Failure to Meet the ELM Requirement Costs Time and Money

  • Students cannot enroll in many required CSU college classes until they meet the requirement.
  • They must spend time taking remedial math classes during their freshman year until they meet the requirement.
  • They will graduate later because they get no degree credit for these remedial classes.
  • They may have to pay additional charges for these classes.
  • If they do not earn a C or better in the remedial classes, they may be disenrolled from the university.

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