Department of Mathematics and Philosophy

Math Competency Requirement at Western Illinois University

All students must demonstrate math competency in order to graduate from Western Illinois University. There are three ways this competency can be met:

  1. Receive University credit for Math 100 - Core Competency in Mathematics or Math 110, Introductory College Algebra.
  2. Place in a math course at the level of Math 128 or higher. Placement in math is determined by the math department using previous (HS or transfer) math coursework, Math ACT/SAT math subscores (not required, but optional), and the ALEKS placement test (not required, but optional). If a student places at the level of Math 128 or higher, he/she has met the University math competency requirement. Whether or not a student who has met the math competency requirement takes math at Western will depend on the student's major and individual preferences.
  3. Receive University credit for a mathematics course that lists Math 100 or 110 as a prerequisite.

Beginning fall 2021, the beginning level math courses were changed.  Math 099N was eliminated, Math 100 was modified, and Math 110 was created. More details of these change can be found here.

More information on the general education math competency requirement can be found in the catalog.

General Education Math Courses:

Math and Statistics courses which count in General Education for Natural Sciences and Mathematics are as follows, with semester hours in parenthesis:

  • Math 101 - Concepts of Mathematics (3)
  • Math 102 - Creative Perspectives in Mathematics (3)
  • Math 123 - Modeling with Mathematical Functions (3)
  • Math 133 - Calculus with Analytic Geometry I (4)
  • Math 134 - Calculus with Analytic Geometry II (4)
  • Math 137 - Applied Calculus I (3)
  • Stat 171 - General Elementary Statistics (3)