Subjects With Proficiency Exams, Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Illinois

Subjects With Proficiency Exams

There are many exams that allow an incoming student to try to earn proficiency credit. In addition to high school Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, you have ample opportunity to demonstrate your proficiency in the sciences and the languages by taking a departmental proficiency exam once you come to campus. Most proficiency exams are offered during the first week of classes. Click on a subject below for more specific information.

Any student who barely missed earning proficiency credit from the AP Calculus and AP Physics exams, and any student who scores well on the UIUC Chemistry Placement Exam, should seriously consider taking the departmental proficiency test.


To try to proficiency out of an introductory course not mentioned above, contact the department that offers the course to schedule an exam.



If the proficiency exam also offers course placement, you’ll need to check with the department for your placement results.



IMPORTANT! Duplicate credit earned through AP, IB, departmental examinations, or any other means will not be granted. This means, for example, that if you earned MATH 220 credit through the AP Calculus exam, you cannot earn MATH 220 credit again by taking the Math Proficiency Exam. Credit for a particular course will be awarded only once.