Exemptions

A student is exempt from all TSI requirements under any one of the following conditions.

• The student has earned a bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree.
• The student 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.
• The student 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 served as a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States on or after August 1, 1990.
• The student is a non-degree-seeking or a non-certificate-seeking student.
• The student has attended another institution and has been determined to have met readiness standards by that institution.
• The student has transferred to the University from a private or independent institution of higher education, an accredited out-of-state institution of higher education, or an international institution of higher education and has completed college-level coursework.

A student is exempt from one or more TSI requirements under the following conditions. SAT I and ACT scores used to support an exemption must be less than five years old; TAKS scores must be less than three years old.

• A student with an SAT I score of at least 1070 and a math score of at least 500 is exempt from the math requirement.
• A student with an SAT I score of at least 1070 and a verbal score of at least 500 is exempt from the reading and writing requirements.
• A student with an ACT composite score of at least 23 and a math score of at least 19 is exempt from the math requirement.
• A student with an ACT composite score of at least 23 and an English score of at least 19 is exempt from the reading and writing requirements.
• A student with a TAKS math score of at least 2200 is exempt from the math requirement.
• A student with a TAKS English/language arts score of at least 2200 and an essay score of at least 3 is exempt from the reading and writing requirements.

Note
The name of the SAT I has recently been changed to “SAT Reasoning Test”; the name “New SAT” has been used for the version of the test administered after January 2005. The verbal portion of the New SAT has been renamed “critical reading”. Both old and new total, math, and verbal/critical reading scores that are less than five years old may be used to meet TSI requirements as described here. The essay section of the New SAT may not yet be used to meet TSI requirements.