4000-01-U
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
List of Approved “Ability-to-Benefit” (ATB) Tests and Passing
Scores
AGENCY:

Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of

Education.
ACTION:
SUMMARY:

Notice.
This notice updates the list of ATB tests approved by

the Secretary.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Aaron Washington, U.S.

Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 294–12,
Washington, DC 20202.

Telephone: (202) 987–0911.

Email:

Aaron.Washington@ed.gov.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech
disability and wish to access telecommunications relay services,
please dial 7-1-1.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In order for a student who does not

have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent to be
eligible for title IV program assistance, the student must
successfully complete one of the ATB alternatives (listed below)
and be enrolled in an eligible career pathway program (ECPP)1
pursuant to section 484(d)(1) of the Higher Education Act of
1965, as amended (HEA).

A student that enrolled in an eligible program at an eligible title IV
institution prior to July 1, 2012 does not have to enroll in an ECPP. While
this will be a very rare occurrence, please see DCL GEN 12-09 for more
guidance. https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/dear-colleagueletters/2012-06-28/gen-12-09-subjecttitle-iv-eligibility-students-withoutvalid-high-school-diploma.

The ATB alternatives are—
•

Passing an independently administered ATB test approved by

the Secretary;
•

Completing at least six credit hours, or the equivalent

coursework (225 clock hours), that are applicable toward a
degree or certificate offered by the postsecondary institution;
or
•

Completing a State process approved by the Secretary.
With respect to the ATB test alternative, there are

specific requirements for students whose native language is not
English, and who are not fluent in English.

Those students must

comply with one of the three following options:
1.

A student who is enrolled in a program that is taught

in the student's native language must take an approved test
developed in the student's native language pursuant to 34 CFR
668.153(a)(1).

Currently there are no approved ATB tests in a

language other than English.

Therefore, these students must use

one of the remaining two ATB alternatives to qualify for title
IV aid;
2.

A student who is enrolled in a program that is taught

in English must take an ATB test designed to measure the English
language competence of a non-native speaker.

Students who are

enrolled in such a program that has an “English as a Second
Language” (ESL) component and who are enrolled in the ESL
component, must take an approved ATB test specifically for a
student whose native language is not English and who is not

fluent in English, pursuant to 34 CFR 668.153(a)(2).

Similarly,

students who are enrolled in an ESL only program must take an
approved ATB test specifically for a student whose native
language is not English and who is not fluent in English,
pursuant to 34 CFR 668.153(a)(2);
3.

A student who is enrolled in a program that is taught

in English without an ESL component, or does not enroll in the
ESL component of the program, must take an ATB test in English
that assesses secondary school verbal and quantitative skills,
pursuant to 34 CFR 668.153(a)(3).
List of approved tests and passing scores:

The Secretary

lists below all approved ATB tests and their passing scores.
The list is updated to reflect revisions to the list of approved
ATB tests and passing scores that was published in the Federal
Register on November 9, 2020 (85 FR 71326).
ATB test

Passing scores

*Combined
English Language
Skills
Assessment
(CELSA), Forms 1
and 2 Effective
Date: November
1, 2002
ACCUPLACER
Computeradaptive tests
and COMPANION
ACCUPLACER Forms
J and K: Reading
Test, Writing
Test, and
Arithmetic Test
**Texas Success
Initiative (TSI)

CELSA Form 1
(97), CELSA Form
2 (97)

Reading Test
(233), Writing
Test (235),
Arithmetic Test
(230)

Reading
Placement Test

Test publisher contact
information
Association of Classroom
Teacher Testers (ACCT),
1187 Coast Village Road,
Suite 1, #378, Montecito,
CA 93108. Contact:
Telephone: (805) 965–5704.
Fax: (805) 965–5807. Email:
actt@cappassociates.com
The College Board, 250
Vesey Street, New York, NY
10281. Contact: ACCUPLACER
Program. Telephone: (800)
607–5223. Email:
accuplacer@collegeboard.org

Assessment—
Computeradaptive tests
and COMPANION
TSI Forms T and
V: Reading
Placement Test,
Writing
Placement Test,
Mathematics
Placement Test
*Note:

(336), Writing
Placement Test
(345),
Mathematics
Placement Test
(326)

As provided in 34 CFR 668.153(a)(2), the CELSA test is

approved as the additional ATB English language proficiency test
that must be taken by students whose native language is not
English and who are not fluent in English if the academic
program includes an ESL component.
**Note:

TSI remains a provisionally approved test and can

continue to be used to establish title IV aid eligibility.

If

the Department denies full approval, we will provide notice of
the denial through publication in the Federal Register, pursuant
to 34 CFR 668.150(c)(3).
List of ATB tests that are no longer approved:

The

following tests are no longer included on the approved list of
tests that may be used for the purpose of determining a
student's eligibility for title IV program assistance.

Please

note the effective dates for each test.
1.

Test:

The ACT Career Programs Assessment test (CPAt)—

Forms B and C.
Effective Dates:
Passing Scores:
Numerical (41).

November 1, 2002, through June 30, 2015.
Language Usage (42), Reading (43), and

Publisher:

ACT, Inc., 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City,

IA 52243–0168.
Contact:

https://global.act.org/content/global/en/global-

programs/contact-us.html.
2.

Test:

The ACT WorkKeys test—Reading for Information—

Forms A01AA, A02AA, C01AA, & D10AA; Applied Mathematic—Forms
A01BB, A02BB, C01BB, & D01BB.
Effective Dates:
Passing Scores:

May 19, 2006, through June 30, 2015.
Reading for Information Forms A01AA (76), A02AA

(75), C01AA (77), & D10AA (77); Applied Mathematics Forms A01BB
(73), A02BB (74), C01BB (73), & D01BB (73).
Publisher:

ACT, Inc., 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City,

IA 52243–0168.
Contact:

https://global.act.org/content/global/en/global-

programs/contact-us.html.
3.

Test:

The College Board DTLS and DTMS Forms M–K–3KDT

and M–K–3LDT tests.
Effective Dates:
Passing Scores:

November 1, 2002, through April 27, 2007.
Reading Comprehension (108), Sentence Structure

(9), Conventions of Written English (309), and Arithmetic (506).
Publisher:

The College Board, 250 Vesey Street, New York, New

York 10281.
Contact:

ACCUPLACER Program; Telephone: (866) 630–9305.

Email:

https://form.collegeboard.org/f/send-message.
4.

Test:

ASSET:

Basic Skills Test (Reading, Writing, and

Numerical)—Forms B2, C2, D2, and E2.

Effective Dates:
Passing Scores:

November 1, 2002, through October 31, 2015.
Reading (35), Writing (35), and Numerical (33).

Publisher: ACT, Inc., 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, IA
52243–0168.
Contact:

https://global.act.org/content/global/en/global-

programs/contact-us.html.
5.

Test:

Passing Scores:

COMPASS Subtests—Prealgebra/Numerical Skills.
Prealgebra/Numerical (25), Reading (62), and

Writing (32).
Effective Dates:
Publisher:

November 1, 2002, through October 31, 2015.

ACT, Inc., 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City,

IA 52243–0168.
Contact:

https://global.act.org/content/global/en/global-

programs/contact-us.html.
6.

Test:

Passing Scores:

COMPASS ESL.
Grammar/Usage (64), Reading (70), and Listening

(70).
Effective Dates:
Publisher:

May 19, 2006, through October 31, 2015.

ACT, Inc., 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City,

IA 52243–0168.
Contact:

https://global.act.org/content/global/en/global-

programs/contact-us.html.
7.

Test:

Wonderlic Basic Skills Test (WBST) Verbal Forms

VS–1 & VS–2, Quantitative Forms QS–1 & QS–2 Paper and pencil
versions and online versions.
Effective Dates:

July 1, 2015, through March 31, 2023.

Publisher: Wonderlic, Inc., 400 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 200,
Vernon Hills, IL 60061.
Contact:
8.

https://wonderlic.com/contact-us/
Test:

Spanish Wonderlic Basic Skills Test (Spanish

WBST) Verbal Forms VS–1 & VS–2, Quantitative Forms QS–1 & QS–2
Paper and pencil versions and online versions.
Effective Dates:
Publisher:

July 1, 2015 through March 31, 2023.

Wonderlic, Inc., 400 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 200,

Vernon Hills, IL 60061.
Contact:

https://wonderlic.com/contact-us/.

Accessible Format:

Individuals with disabilities can obtain

this document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large
print, audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program
contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document:

The official version of

this document is the document published in the Federal Register.
You may access the official edition of the Federal Register and
the Code of Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov.

At this

site you can view this document, as well as all other documents
of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text or
Portable Document Format (PDF).

To use PDF, you must have Adobe

Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.
You may also access documents of the Department published
in the Federal Register by using the article search feature at
www.federalregister.gov.

Specifically, through the advanced

search feature at this site, you can limit your search to
documents published by the Department.
Program Authority:

20 U.S.C. 1091(d).

Nasser H. Paydar,
Assistant Secretary,
Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-13175 Filed: 6/13/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 6/14/2024]