Developmental Education and The Texas Success Initiative (TSI)
As of fall 2003, in order to enroll in Texas public institutions of higher education, students must be in compliance with the Texas Success Initiative (TSI). The law requires all entering college students to be assessed for college readiness in reading, mathematics and writing unless the student qualifies for an exemption. Each student who fails to meet the minimum passing standard of the exam offered by the institution must be placed in a developmental education program designed to help the student achieve college readiness.
Unless determined Exempt, as of January 11, 2021, all students in the state of Texas are required to complete tests in Math AND in English Language Arts (reading and writing) via the Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2, before enrolling in classes. The TSIA2 is designed to determine if a student is ready for college-level course work in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics or if the student needs developmental education courses. Contact Admissions at 432-837-8051 or 432-837-8053 to verify that your scores have been received. Testing is scheduled by appointment and administered by Career Services and Testing. Please call the SRSU Testing Center at 432-837-8178 or 432-837-8357 to schedule a test administration.
The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) offers the following developmental education courses:
- ENG 0309 Basic Integrated Reading and Writing
- ENG 0310 Integrated Reading and Writing
- MATH 0314 Introduction to College Algebra
- MATH 0332 Introduction to Contemporary Math
- MATH 0342 Introduction to Statistical Methods
TSI Exemptions:
ACT– ACT administered prior to February 15, 2023: composite score of 23 with a minimum of 19 on the English test shall be exempt for both the reading and writing sections of the TSI Assessment, and/or 19 on the mathematics test shall be exempt for the mathematics section of the TSI Assessment.
ACT– Administered on or after February 15, 2023: a combined score of 40 on the English and Reading (E+R) tests shall be exempt for both reading and writing or ELAR sections of the TSI Assessment. A score of 22 on the mathematics test shall be exempt for the mathematics section of the TSI Assessment. There is no composite score.
A combination of scores from both the ACT administered prior to February 15, 2023, and the ACT administered after February 15, 2023, is allowable (provided all other elements of Texas Administrative Code Title 19, Part 1, Chapter 4, Subchapter C, Rule 4. 54 are met.
SAT– SAT administered prior to March 5, 2016: a combined critical reading (formerly “verbal”) and mathematics score of 1070 with a minimum of 500 on the critical reading test shall be exempt for both reading and writing sections of the TSI Assessment; a combined critical reading (formerly “verbal”) and mathematics score of 1070 with a minimum of 500 on the mathematics test shall be exempt for the mathematics section of the TSI Assessment.
SAT– administered on or after March 5, 2016: a minimum score of 480 on the Evidenced-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) test shall be exempt for both reading and writing sections of the TSI Assessment; a minimum score of 530 on the mathematics test shall be exempt for the mathematics section of the TSI Assessment. There is no combined score.
Mixing or combining scores from the SAT administered prior to March 5, 2016 and the SAT administered on or after March 5, 2016 is not allowable.
GED– A minimum score of 165 on the Mathematical Reasoning subject test shall be exempt for the mathematics section of the TSI Assessment. A minimum score of 165 on the Reasoning Through Language Arts (RLA) subject test shall be exempt for the English Language Arts Reading (ELAR) section of the TSI Assessment.
HiSET– A minimum score of 15 on the Mathematics subtest shall be exempt for the mathematics section of the TSI Assessment. A minimum score of 15 on the Reading subtest and a minimum score of 15 on the Writing subtest, including a minimum score of 4 on the essay, shall be exempt for the English Language Arts Reading (ELAR) section of the TSI Assessment.
TEXAS ASSESSMENT OF ACADEMIC SKILLS (TAAS)– For a period of three (3) years from the date of testing, a student who is tested and performs on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) with a minimum scale score of 1770 on the writing test, a Texas Learning Index (TLI) of 86 on the mathematics test and 89 on the reading test.
11TH GRADE TEXAS ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS (TAKS)– For a period of five (5) years from the date of testing, a minimum scale score of 2200 on the math section and/or a minimum scale score of 2200 on the English Language Arts section with a writing subsection score of at least 3.
STAAR END-OF-COURSE (EOC)– a minimum Level 2 score of 4000 on the English III shall be exempt from the TSI Assessment required under this title for both reading and writing, and a minimum Level 2 score of 4000 on the Algebra II EOC shall be exempt from the TSI Assessment required under this title for the mathematics section.
Other state exemptions include the following:
- A student who has graduated with an associate or baccalaureate degree from an institution of higher education.
- A student who transfers to an institution from a public, private, or independent institution of higher education or an accredited out-of-state institution of higher education and who has satisfactorily completed college-level coursework as determined by the receiving institution.
- A student who has previously attended any institution and has been determined to have met readiness standards by that institution. For students meeting non-Algebra intensive readiness standards in mathematics as defined in §4.59 of this title (relating to Determination of Readiness to Perform Entry-Level Freshman Coursework), institutions may choose to require additional preparatory coursework/interventions for Algebra intensive courses, including MATH 1314. It is the institution’s responsibility to ensure that students are clearly informed of the consequences of successful completion of a mathematics pathways model which results in meeting the mathematics college readiness standard only for specific entry-level freshman mathematics courses.
- A student who is enrolled in a certificate program of one year or less (Level-One certificates, 42 or fewer semester credit hours or the equivalent) at a public junior college, a public technical institute, or a public state college.
- A student who is serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of the United States, the Texas National Guard, or as a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States and has been serving for at least three years preceding enrollment.
- A student who on or after August 1, 1990, was honorably discharged, retired, or released from active duty as a member of the armed forces of the United States or the Texas National Guard or service as a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States.
- A student who successfully completes a college preparatory course under Texas Education Code §28.014 is exempt for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the date of high school graduation with respect to the content area of the course. The student must enroll in the student’s first college-level course in the exempted content area in the student’s first year of enrollment in an institution of higher education. This exemption applies only at the institution of higher education that partners with the school district in which the student is enrolled to provide the course.
- An institution may exempt a non-degree-seeking or non-certificate-seeking student.