About the Test
The State of Missouri is requiring a civics exam be administered in Higher Education. See Senate Bills 807 & 577 for additional details. According to the bill, the examination shall officially be known as the “Missouri Higher Education Civics Achievement Examination”.
“The examination required under this section shall consist of at least fifty questions, but shall not exceed one hundred questions, and shall be similar to the one hundred questions administered to applicants for United States citizenship by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services division of the Department of Homeland Security. Subject matter on the examination shall include the United States Constitution, the United States Bill of Rights, governmental institutions, historical manifestations of federalism, and history of constitutional interpretation and amendments”.
The bill does not determine precisely what must be asked on the exam, so universities are given flexibility to write their own questions within the above framework. Our exam will be 50 multiple choice questions in length. The pass requirement, per the Senate Bill, is 70%, which is 35 out of 50 questions answered correctly.
Review Materials
US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and amendments: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution
The US Civics test can be found here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf
US Supreme Court landmark cases: https://www.constitutionfacts.com/content/supremecourt/files/supremecourt_landmarkcases.pdf
Civics history review: CivicsTestReview.pdf
Recommended coursework to help prepare for this test include:
POL 161
HIST 2100
HIST 1104
HIST 1105
Registration
Go to Truview –> Student Tab –> Assessment and Testing Menu –> Civics Exam –> Enroll in Civics Brightspace Course. Processing enrollment in the course takes 24 hrs. After the course appears in your Brightspace list, you may take the exam at your convenience. The link for this platform is learn.truman.edu.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who does this affect?
Any new student to the university (transfer or first-time student) from the summer of 2019 and onward. Students of all class status (freshman-senior) will need to test if you are new to the university since the bill was passed.
I’m an international/exchange student, do I need to test?
International students planning to graduate from any Missouri public university will need to have the test on their university transcript in order to graduate. Exchange students who are only here for a year (or more) but do not plan to graduate from a Missouri public university will not need to test.
I’m not from Missouri, do I need to test?
Any new or transfer student from summer 2019 onward planning to graduate from a Missouri public university will need to take this test.
I have a civics test denoted on my out-of-state transcript, do I need to test?
Yes. What another state requires for their civics completion will differ from the Missouri bill requirements. Students who transfer in a civics exam on their transcript from out of state will need to also complete the Missouri exam.
Will this test affect my GPA?
We are using the Brightspace platform to deliver the exam, but the ‘course’ is not for credit. The test will not affect your GPA.
I took a required civics exam in high school, do I need to test?
All students planning to graduate from a Missouri public university will need the civics exam passed on their university transcript. High school exams on high school transcripts do not count.
Will my civics test transfer in or out of Truman?
Yes. The civics exam is a transcript item, so as long as it is on an in-state university transcript that you are transferring to Truman, we will honor it. Similarly, Truman will create a transcript line when you take the test here, and it should be honored at other Missouri public universities.
How does this effect private institutions?
The Bill only discusses the requirement in relation to public universities. How private institutions approach accepting or denoting the civics test is up to that institution, if they consider it at all.
Doesn’t the State Statute History course count for this?
No. This exam was introduced in a relatively new piece of legislation, not related to the other State Statutes. The civics exam is not embedded in any course at Truman.
What if I took an AP class?
This test requirement is specifically not part of a course requirement. Since AP classes count toward coursework, AP coursework will not meet this requirement.