HBCU Writers's Project
For Immediate Release
February 13, 2010
Contact Information

Jeanine James
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

(BPRW) College-Level Academic Skills Test

(BLACK PR WIRE/FAMU-TALLAHASSEE) – Recent Florida legislation repealed the use of the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) set as a degree requirement for those undergraduates seeking Associate of Arts (A.A.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees in Florida’s public colleges and universities. Even though the test is no longer administered, students who haven’t successfully completed all of the CLAST subtests are concerned.

Apryl McNealy, a senior public relations student at Florida A&M University, has yet to satisfy the math and English requirements of the CLAST. McNealy is scheduled to graduate in the spring of next year. “This test is really frustrating for me,” McNealy said. “I have taken it four times without success and now it’s no longer given.”

Breion Patterson, a general studies student at Tallahassee Community College, has yet to satisfy the math subtest of the CLAST. “I am scheduled to graduate this fall and don’t know if I will,” Patterson said. “I meet with the CLAST committee this week.”

According to the Florida Department of Education, there are other opportunities for students to satisfy the CLAST requirement now that the exam is no longer administered. Students who have a learning disability and have made frequent attempts to pass the CLAST exam may appeal to an institutional committee for a waiver. The decision of the committee is case by case. Students can also take an additional math or English course; earning a B letter grade will satisfy the CLAST requirement.