Reminder: Civic Literacy Exam is required for graduation

Posted on by Polk Newsroom

For students who enrolled in college for the first time starting in the Fall 2021 Semester or later, the state of Florida requires them to pass National Government (POS2041) or American History (AMH2020) with a C or higher and the Civic Literacy Exam.

The 80-question exam is broken into four parts of 20 questions each. To pass, students are required to get at least 60% – or 48 questions – correct.

The requirement was first implemented for the 2021-22 Academic Year by the Florida Legislature to ensure that students could “demonstrate competency in civic literacy,” which includes an understanding of basic principles of American democracy, the U.S. Constitution, and the impact on law and society from the founding documents and landmark Supreme Court cases.

Those who pass the exam in high school are not required to pass it again in college. Students can meet with an advisor or check their degree audits in Passport under the “Degree Benchmarks” and “Civic Literacy Competency” sections to confirm they’ve met the requirement.

To optimize the success of Polk State College students, advisors are emphasizing the requirement in conversations with students and urging them to take the exam within 30 days of passing POS2041 or AMH2020. Additionally, Polk State faculty from diverse disciplines such as English, Nursing, and History are working collaboratively to integrate Civic Literacy content across all courses. A free course and study guide is also available in Canvas, which could prove helpful for students who have already passed POS2041 or AMH2020.

To date, Polk State students have passed the exam at greater than an 75% rate. Nearly 1,200 Polk State students have passed the exam. There is no limit to the number of times students can take the exam.*

Exams can be taken at the Teaching Learning Computing Centers (TLCCs) on Polk State’s Winter Haven, Lakeland, or JD Alexander Center campuses. Students can schedule an appointment at their preferred location here.

NOTE: Failures are not reflected in the data in cases where students needed multiple attempts to pass the exam. For example, if a Polk State student passed on their third try, the previous two failures would not be reflected in the College’s overall pass rate.