Texas Success Initiatives Assessment

The Texas Success Initiative (TSI) is a State of Texas legislatively mandated program designed to guide public institutions of higher education determine if a student is ready for college-level course work in the general areas of Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

If you are an incoming college student in Texas, you are required to take the TSI Assessment — unless you are already exempt (see exemption requirements below under “Do All Students Have to Take the TSI Assessment?”) — to determine your readiness for college-level work. Within the Dual Credit program, students must meet the minimum required score(s) (see below for qualifying scores) in the areas of ELAR (Reading/Writing), and/or Math to take certain courses.

If you are not exempt from taking the TSI Assessment based on the list of exemptions listed on the next page, you will need to take the TSI Assessment in the area(s) relevant to the Dual Credit course you wish to take (if applicable) within the test and where necessary, you may be given an additional diagnostic test in a particular subject.

The assessments are computer adaptive, which means that questions increase or decrease in difficulty level depending on how you respond. The assessments are untimed.

Not all students need to take the TSI Assessment; there are several ways to be exempt. Qualifying for a TSI Assessment exemption means that you can enroll in any entry-level college course without restrictions (see prior section on Dual Credit Eligibilty for non-degree seeking students). A student is exempt from TSI requirements if the student meets one of the following test conditions. Students may not combine scores from different administrations of the same test.

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Students who have satisfactorily completed college-level coursework in mathematics, reading, or writing with a grade of ‘C’ or better, including a high school student who has earned college credit for a dual credit course or a course offered under §4.86 of this chapter (relating to Optional Dual Credit or Dual Enrollment Program: College Connect Courses), with a grade of ‘C’ or better, is considered coursework exempt. An official college transcript of coursework completed is required.