Is college algebra hard? What to expect in MAT 117

By the numbers:

• 3 credit hours toward ASU’s Mathematics General Studies requirement
• 3 formats: on demand, 12 weeks or 16 weeks, with availability varying by term
• 1 year after you finish to decide about credit

What it costs:

1. $25 to enroll. Reserves your spot and opens the course, including all required materials.
2. $0 to complete it. You do the coursework and see your grade owing nothing further. A retake is another $25.
3. $400 only if you pass and want the credit. $425 total per course.

What is college algebra?

College algebra is a first-year, college-level math course. ASU offers it as MAT 117, one of the ASU Universal Learner Courses. You work through systems of linear equations, quadratic functions, general polynomial functions, rational functions, exponential functions and logarithmic functions.

The course puts its weight on technique. You learn how to identify functions, domains, ranges and intercepts, and how to apply algebraic reasoning to problems you have not seen before. Discussions with your professor and other students are built into the course to help that reasoning take hold.

MAT 117 satisfies 3 credit hours toward the MATH: Mathematics General Studies requirement at ASU.

Who can take MAT 117?

Anyone. There is no application, no admission decision and no GPA requirement. You sign up, pay the $25 enrollment fee and start. Nobody reviews a transcript or a test score first.

Universal Learner Courses are individual college courses, so you take one at a time rather than committing to a program up front. Three groups of learners take MAT 117 most often.

High school students take it to earn college math credit early, to see what college-level work asks of them, and to arrive on campus with a requirement already completed. One thing to plan for: MAT 117 has proctored exams, and if you are under 18 you will need a government-issued ID to sit for them.

Students transferring credit into a degree take it to clear a math requirement on their own schedule, often while working, then carry the credit into the program they are heading toward. It lands on an official ASU transcript.

Students building toward an ASU degree take it as part of a Degree Pathway, where completed courses can lead to admission.

The credit itself is ASU credit, and it transfers widely. Check with the institution you are heading toward before you transfer it, since every school sets its own policy on how credit applies to a specific degree.

If you want to try college math before committing to anything larger, the section on cost below explains what the model protects.

Browsing on behalf of a high school student? Start at online college courses for high school students.

Is college algebra hard?

Most students find it demanding, and the reason is specific. Algebra is cumulative. Every unit stands on skills from the unit before it, and on math you learned years earlier. A shaky grasp of factoring or exponent rules will not slow you down in week one. It shows up in week six as a problem you cannot finish.

So the difficulty usually traces back to a specific missing skill. Find the gap and the course opens up.

MAT 117 is built around that fact. The course uses ALEKS, an adaptive learning system that works like a personal math tutor. It finds the specific skills you are missing and lets you work through them at your own pace instead of moving the whole class along at one speed. The stated goal of the course design is to lower math anxiety and get you to the end feeling confident.

Is college algebra the same as Algebra 2?

They overlap. Both cover functions, quadratics, exponents and logarithms. College algebra moves faster, assumes you can already handle the mechanics and spends more time on why a method works and how to apply it somewhere unfamiliar.

Credit is the other difference. MAT 117 appears on an official ASU transcript exactly as it would for a student taking the course on campus. High school Algebra 2 does not carry college credit.

How MAT 117 is graded?

Your grade comes from four unit quizzes worth 40%, a midterm worth 20% and a final exam worth 40%. The exams are proctored, so you will need a photo ID to verify your identity.

You will want a computer that meets the technical requirements and enough English fluency and computer comfort to work independently.

What it costs, and what you risk

Universal Learner Courses run on a pay-if-you-pass model. The order of the three steps is what keeps the risk low.

You pay $25 to enroll. That reserves your spot and opens the course. It covers instruction, assignments and all required course materials, so there is no separate textbook cost.

You complete the coursework and earn a grade. Nothing else is owed at this stage. If the grade is not what you hoped for, you can stop, or take the course again for another $25. Neither choice costs you anything beyond that, and neither touches your GPA, because nothing has reached a transcript yet.

You pay $400 only if you pass and want the credit. The credit conversion fee adds MAT 117 to your official ASU transcript. Total per course: $425. The same three credits average about $2,250 at a public university and about $4,365 at a private one, paid upfront.

Here is what that protects. You see your grade before you decide anything. A course reaches a transcript only when you pay to put it there, so a course you walk away from never appears on your record and never touches a GPA. A retake is a fresh $25 and nothing else.

Here is what it does not protect. The $25 and the hours you put in are spent either way. Once you do pay to transcript a course, the grade counts like any other ASU grade, and a course can be transcripted only once. So a retake is something you do before you transcript, not after. That is why you get a year to decide, and why it is worth thinking hard before adding a C to a transcript you plan to use for degree applications.

That combination is the point. You can find out whether college algebra is manageable, and what a college course demands, for $25 and without an application or an admission decision. Pass it, and you have 3 credit hours to carry into whatever degree you are working toward.

How to pass college algebra

1. Work in short sessions, often. Thirty minutes a day beats a four-hour Sunday. Algebra rewards repetition more than intensity.
2. Take the ALEKS diagnostic seriously. It is the map of what you already know. Rushing it means the system aims practice at the wrong skills.
3. Do not let a gap sit. If a step stops making sense, go back to it that week. It will not get easier three units later.
4. Choose the format that matches your life. On demand suits an unpredictable schedule. A 12 or 16 week session gives you deadlines, which some students need to keep moving.
5. Use the discussions. Explaining a problem to someone else is one of the fastest ways to find out whether you understand it.

Who teaches the course

Carla van de Sande, associate professor in ASU’s School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, teaches MAT 117. Her research sits in mathematics education, where she studies how students hold on to foundational skills during time away from the classroom. She developed the Keep in School Shape program, which sends students short daily review problems over academic breaks so that hard-won skills do not fade between terms.

What comes after college algebra

College algebra is the foundation course. It prepares you for MAT 170 Precalculus, where MAT 117 is strongly suggested as a prerequisite. From there you can move on to MAT 210 Brief Calculus or MAT 265 Calculus for Engineers I, depending on the degree they are heading toward.

Frequently asked questions

What does college algebra cover? Systems of linear equations, quadratic functions, general polynomial functions, rational functions, exponential functions and logarithmic functions, with an emphasis on problem-solving technique.

How many credits is college algebra? MAT 117 is 3 credit hours. It satisfies 3 hours toward the MATH: Mathematics General Studies requirement at ASU.

Do I have to be admitted to ASU to take MAT 117? No. There is no application and no GPA requirement. You can take MAT 117 first and apply your credit toward a degree later.

Can a high school student take college algebra? Yes. Because MAT 117 includes proctored exams, a student under 18 will need a government-issued ID to take them.

Will this hurt my GPA? Only if you choose. A course reaches a transcript only when you pay the $400 credit conversion fee, and you have a year after finishing to decide. A course you walk away from never appears on your record. Once you do transcript it, the grade counts like any other ASU grade.

Is MAT 117 transferable? The course appears on an official ASU transcript identically to the on-campus version, and ASU credit transfers widely. Confirm with your institution how the credit will apply before you transfer it.

How much does it cost? Three steps. You pay $25 to enroll, which covers all required course materials. You complete the coursework and earn a grade, owing nothing further. If you pass and want the credit on your transcript, you pay a $400 credit conversion fee. Total per course: $425, and you have one year after finishing to decide.

What if I do not get the grade I wanted? You can take the course again for another $25. Nothing has reached your transcript, so a first attempt you are unhappy with does not follow you and does not affect your GPA. Retake before you transcript a course, since a course can only be transcripted once.

Do I need calculus first? No. College algebra comes before calculus. It builds the skills you need for precalculus and then calculus.

How long does it take? You can take it on demand at your own pace, or in a 12 week or 16 week session.

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Start MAT 117 college algebra

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