English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Placement Exam

Format 

International Students will take the Avant STAMP 4 Skills online proctored exam.  This exam assesses reading, writing, listening, and speaking (including grammar) to determine whether EAP coursework is needed for academic success. The EAP Proficiency Exam measures a student’s English skills as used in academic study in a US Classroom.  

This exam will be taken online and must be completed with an online proctor.  For more information on how to prepare physically and academically for the exam, please visit AvantProctor Test Takers Guide.  

Sample Exam 

To take a sample exam, please visit the Avant STAMP 4S Sample Tests. and take the English sample exam.  There will be reading, writing, listening, and speaking sections of the online proctored exam. 

Scoring Exam 

Once the exam is taken, it will take up to 14 calendar days for the exam to be graded and provided to the student’s academic advisor, unless the student pays the extra cost for expedited grading. 

Once the EAP exam has been scored and reviewed, the results will be sent to the student’s academic advisor. During the academic advising appointment, the advisor will let the student know if they have any required or recommended EAP coursework and will register the student in the appropriate course(s). 

Deadline 

The deadline for taking this online proctored exam are as follows 

If the student takes the exam after the above date, the student must pay extra fees to have the grading expedited in time for the first date of the Global Triton Welcome. 

Students who do not take the exam prior to arrival will be required to pay for and to take the exam with additional costs on the Tuesday of the Global Triton Welcome.

UMSL Global STRONGLY advises you to take the exam prior to arrival in the United States.    

Cost 

The exam costs $44.90. Payment will be made at the time of registration at the Avant STAMP 4S Registration page. There will also be a remote proctoring fee of $20.  

Additional fees will be charged for expedited grading if student does not take exam by August 4^th for Fall & December 15^th for Spring.  

Registration 

1. Go to the Avant STAMP 4S Registration page
2. The student must use the UMSL SSO email address when making the test purchase. 
   1. If the student has not setup the UMSL email address, please visit Campus E-mail and SSO ID to do so
   2. Failure to use the UMSL email will result in a delay of testing.
3. After making the purchase, the student will receive a series of emails with instructions from Avant, please read each email very carefully.
4. Between 24-48 hours after purchase, the student will receive an email inviting them to register for a testing time.
5. The student must use the legal name as well as the email address used when making the purchase to register for the exam.
   1. The student’s legal name should match the legal photo ID (passport) that will be required for remote testing
6. Student must use their UMSL Student ID Number (found on your admission letter and in the Triton Portal)  
7. When taking the exam, make sure when doing the writing portion of the placement test, please write developed paragraphs with a minimum of 250 words total for each question.
8. When the student has completed the exam, the student must email Denise Mussman at denise@umsl.edu with the subject line: English Placement Exam – Completed

In the email, include the following (students may copy and paste the below) 

Dear Dr. Mussman,  

I have completed the EAP Exam. Here is my information 

Name:  Student’s full legal name 

Date Exam Complete:  MM/DD/YYYY 

Email:  UMSL email used to register for the exam 

SID#:  Student ID Number  

this is an 8-digit number and has no letters 

This is on the student’s letter of admission as well as most emails sent to the student from UMSL Global  

Sincerely, 

(Insert Student’s Name here) 

     9. DO NOT email Dr. Mussman until the student has completed the remotely proctored exam.

   10. Only faculty at UMSL will have access to the exam results, and exam-takers will not receive any results or feedback from the testing company.

Per Missouri State Law, any international graduate student with a Teaching Assistantship (TA) must take the EAP exam, unless the student is a citizen of a recognized English-Speaking country, or has completed 30 or more academic credit hours at a US university.

All international TA’s must take EAP 5400: ITA Seminar regardless of EAP exam results. 

Some academic departments reserve the right to require the EAP exam, even for students who may otherwise qualify for a waiver.   

Generally, all new undergraduate and most new graduate international students must complete the EAP exam.  

An exam waiver, however, may be considered for students who: 

1. Are citizens of a recognized English-Speaking country
2. Had at least a 94 TOEFL iBT, 7.0 IELTS, 180 Cambridge English C1 Advanced, 65 PTE-A or 120 Duolingo
   
3. Have completed 30 or more academic credit hours at a US community college or university (ESL and non-academic classes do not count toward this 30-hour minimum)
4. Hold an H1-B, L-1, or R-1 visa
5. Are non-degree-seeking students maintaining status at another institution
6. Are J-1 visiting/exchange students studying at UMSL for a single semester
7. Visiting students undertaking a year-long program at UMSL must take the EAP exam,
8. EAP classes are not required for yearlong students but these students are encouraged to enroll in any EAP courses recommended after taking the exam.

Some academic departments reserve the right to require the EAP exam, even for students who may otherwise qualify for a waiver.

The Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) requires international students who are non-native speakers of English to be sufficiently proficient in English in order to pursue their intended academic studies. 

New international undergraduate and graduate students at UMSL are required to take the Avant STAMP 4 Skills online proctored exam by the designated semester deadline or during orientation with an additional cost.   

This exam must be completed before students can finalize course registration. Based on the results of the exam, students may be recommended or required to take one or more English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses at UMSL: 

• Required EAP courses are pre-requisites for academic studies and must be completed during the student’s first academic year.
• Recommended EAP courses are not pre-requisites for academic study (except EAP 1013), but completion of recommended courses will improve students' abilities to succeed in degree programs.
• Students may be enrolled concurrently in EAP and academic courses. 
• All EAP courses (except EAP1003x) are taken for academic credit and may apply towards the undergraduate academic degree. 
• EAP are an additional cost for graduate students but if required must be taken in order to proceed in their academic program.
• Students may discuss their questions about academic courses, EAP courses, and their academic programs with their academic advisor.
• Additional information can be found on the English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

AVANT

This test is proctored by an outside company, Avant and UMSL is not responsible for any of the registration or payment processes. 

If you have any issues registering or paying, please contact Avant directly by following the below directions

It is important that you start the testing process as soon as possible and well before August 04, 2024.

TEST REGISTRATION

 Please read all the directions below before proceeding with the testing process:

•  Access the storefront here: https://avantassessment.ecwid.com/#!/University-of-Missouri%E2%80%93St-Louis-English-Placement/c/151233758
• Select the product listed as “English Placement”
  • If starting this process after August 04, 2024, you will need to select the product listed as “English Placement + Expedited Scoring”
• When making the purchase, please be sure to use one legal First Name, one Last name, and your UMSL student email address.
• Failure to use your UMSL email address will result in a delay of the university processing your results.

****NOTE: Attempt a credit card purchase only ONE TIME. If the payment does not go through, please follow the directions below labeled PAYMENT ISSUES.

• If the payment goes through, you will receive an email receipt as well as a separate email to your UMSL email address that will have step-by-step directions to take to register for the test, to schedule a testing day and time, and take the test.
• When you get to the scheduling piece, note that those dates and times are in your local time. Please, be sure to select a date and time before August 04, 2024.
• You will receive an email link to access the test after you have selected a date and time to test. Use this link 15 minutes before your scheduled testing time to access the proctoring system.
• You will need a picture ID (a passport or government issued ID) to begin the testing session.
• The testing session is 3 hours so please plan your time accordingly to complete the test in that timeframe.

PAYMENT ISSUES

• It is possible your credit card may not work with the credit card processing system. Please, attempt the credit card purchase only once.
•  If it does not work, please send an email to AvantTC@avantassessement.com with the subject line “UMSL English Placement Testing Payment Issues.” 
•  In this email, please include the following:
  • Product link: https://avantassessment.ecwid.com/#!/English-Placement/p/561351050/category=151233758
  • First Name (one name please):
  • Last Name (one name please):
  • UMSL Student Email Address:
  • And be sure to include in the body of the email that your credit card payment was declined.
• You will be sent a link to pay via PayPal and provided access to the test.

For any questions dealing with payment or test access, please email AvantTC@avantassessement.com from your UMSL email address. You should receive a response within 1-2 business days. This email is not checked over the weekends so please keep that in mind.

If you do not hear back via email within 2 days, please call +1-888-731-7887 and ask to speak to the Customer Success Team. Be sure to mention you are calling about English Placement Testing for the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

If you experience any issues during the test, please use the chat feature to speak with the human proctor as they can provide technical assistance.