Modernizing College Course Placement by Using Multiple Measures

Too few of today’s students — in particular racially minoritized, returning adults and those from low-income families — will hold a college degree in the coming decades. Increasingly, colleges and universities are recognizing the important role of faculty in student success efforts. This toolkit provides resources and rubrics for colleges and universities to fully engage faculty in the student success movement.

By decreasing reliance on standardized assessments, state systems can help institutions to reduce disparities in student outcomes and improve student success. The Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness studied four states that took system-level actions to do just this.

Seven SUNY community colleges participated in a study to determine whether a multiple measures placement system led to better student outcomes than a system based on test scores alone. It found that placing students directly into gateway courses improves their rates of gateway course completion, regardless of the placement method.