Communications

External Affairs Division

Board of Regents Approve Change to Testing Policy

Atlanta — October 8, 1997

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved a change to its Regents’ Testing Program at its meeting on October 8, at Clayton College & State University, aimed at integrating the testing schedule into the impending conversion to a semester calendar.

The Regents’ Test is an assessment of undergraduate students’ reading and writing skills, administered by all 34 University System institutions as a requirement for graduation. The two-part test includes a multiple-choice reading comprehension section and a written essay. Passing the Regents’ Test has been a requirement for graduation for transfer, associate and baccalaureate degree students at all University System institutions since 1972. The test is designed to ensure that all graduates have minimum college-level skills in reading comprehension and writing.

As a result of today’s board action, effective with the implementation of the University System’s semester system calendar beginning in Fall 1998, the Regents’ Test will be administered each fall and spring semester after approximately 10-12 weeks of instruction. The test also will be offered once during the summer semester. The new policy will require students to take the test no later than the first semester of their sophomore year.

Students who have not passed the test by the second semester of their sophomore year (after earning 45 credit hours) will be required to take remediation each semester until they have passed both parts of the test. Currently, students are required to take the test during the second quarter of the sophomore year, and must take remediation if they have not passed both elements of the test by the third quarter of their sophomore year.

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