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a UW crowd cheering at the political science challenge exam in SPPAIS

POLITICAL SCIENCE CHALLENGE EXAM

 

What is the Challenge Exam for?

 

UW's Political Science Program offers students an opportunity to fulfill their USP-V requirement by examination through its Challenge Exams; the Challenge Exams allow successful students to bypass the POLS 1000 or POLS 1100 courses related to the Wyoming and American Constitutions.

 

Currently, the Political Science Program is offering the Challenge Exams entirely online through UW's WyoLearn platform. Sign-up, payment, and taking the Challenge Exams are done remotely.
 
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR SPRING 2023:
 

For all students that need their Challenge Exam to satisfy their V-requirement for graduation this semester, please note that the last day to take it will be the last day of instruction: Friday, May 5th. This allows time for your score to be processed and applied to your transcript by the end of the semester.

If you do not plan to graduate this semester and do not need your exam applied to your transcript before the end of May, you will retain access to the exam and can take it in the future. This deadline only applies to those students who would like their exam score applied to their transcript for the Spring 2023 semester.

a UW cowboy statue of a bucking bronc and rider in the sun

EXAM OPTIONS

Wyoming Government Exam

Students who have completed a college course in U.S. national government may satisfy the Wyoming government portion of the requirement by taking an exam on Wyoming state politics.

This examination consists of 50 questions (40 multiple choice and 10 true/false). Students must score 70% or better (35 questions) to pass the test.

This exam may be taken twice during a student's academic career. The $80 sitting fee must be paid on each attempt. If a student fails the exam on the second attempt, he or she will be required to take a Wyoming government class to complete the V USP requirement.

REQUIRED TEXT:

The Equality State. by King, Garner, McConnell, & Schuhmann. (9th Edition, 2020). MacMillan Learning. ISBN-13: 978-1-5339-1832-1.

 

There are no study guides for either exam.

American & Wyoming Government Exam

Individuals desiring to challenge the entire 3 hour course may take a comprehensive examination that covers both state and national governments.

This exam consists of 150 questions (140 multiple choice and 10 true/false). Students must score 70% or better (105 questions) to pass the test.

This exam may be taken twice during a student's academic career. The $80 sitting fee must be paid on each attempt. If a student fails the exam on the second attempt, he or she will be required to take a Wyoming government class to complete the V USP requirement.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

The Equality State. by King, Garner, McConnell, & Schuhmann. (9th Edition, 2020). MacMillan Learning. ISBN-13: 978-1-5339-1832-1.

American Government: a Brief Introduction. By Lowi, Ginsberg, Shepsle, Ansolabehere. (16th Edition, 2021). Norton & Company. ISBN-13: 9780393538977

 

 

There are no study guides for either exam.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

a SPPAIS student contemplating applying for the POLS 1000 challenge exam

Follow these steps to register:

  1. You can find the Challenge Exam in the WyoLearn Catalog at: https://uwyo3.catalog.instructure.com/browse/enrich
  2. Once you click "Enroll," you will be asked to either sign-in with your UW log-in & password or to sign-up for an account if you are not already a student at UW.
  3. "Proceed to Payment" will allow you to pay for the Challenge Exam using either Visa or Mastercard.
  4. Upon payment, you will be able to proceed to the Challenge Exam website by clicking the onscreen prompt.
  5. Also, you will receive two confirmation emails automatically: one confirming your enrollment and the other confirming your payment.

 

Please Note: All available offerings will appear at the above link, if no offerings are listed, it is because the exam will not be offered again until a later date (questions/concerns can be directed to sppais-chall@uwyo.edu). 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

There are two variations of the exam:

  • The American and Wyoming Government (3-credit) Challenge Exam fulfills the University of Wyoming’s 'V' requirement all by itself.
  • The Wyoming Government (1-credit) Challenge Exam fulfills only the Wyoming portion of that requirement.  This option is best for students who have already earned credit for American government by taking an AP U.S.  government exam or taking an American government course at another college.

When in doubt, ask your adviser for their insight!

Sorry, no

 

Absolutely! Community colleges, high schools, and the PTSB all send their students to us for the exam. The exam is all-inclusive; you will do everything through the WyoLearn app.

No.

Once you enroll in the course and pay the fee, you are able to start the Challenge Exam at any time.  This allows you to pick the most convenient time and location for you to take the it!

Once you enroll, you can take the exam at your convenience and you will remain on the roster indefinitely.
Nope--the exam setup eliminates the need for a proctor.

Once you have started your exam, you have 150 minutes to take the American and Wyoming Challenge Exam (150 questions) or 50 minutes to take the Wyoming Government Challenge Exam (50 questions).

You cannot log in/out or pause while taking the exam, so make sure you can dedicate enough time before starting the exam.

The American and Wyoming Challenge Exam is 150 multiple-choice questions.

The Wyoming Government Challenge Exam is 50 multiple-choice questions.

Students need to answer 70% of the questions correctly to pass either Challenge Exam.
Nope! Since the exam is pass/fail it does not have any effect on your GPA.
Congrats! Now the School of Politics, Public Affairs, & International Studies (which administers the Challenge Exam) will report your success to UW’s Office of the Registrar - just like other grades are reported. This report is generated at the end of the month that you take the exam and is sent straight to the Office of The Registrar to be reviewed and processed for your degree evaluation.
Exam scores are typically reported at the end of the month, and the Registrar could take up to a week to enter those scores. Look for your scores around the 15th of the following month. If they are still not showing up, reach out to the Office of The Registrar: registrar@uwyo.edu

We’re sorry to hear that!  We ask that you take two steps, so we can move forward:

  1. Click on the “Help” button on the left-hand side of your screen to contact the Student Canvas Support Hotline.
  2. Contact the University of Wyoming Information Technologies Help Desk

Then contact us at sppais-chall@uwyo.edu. Please include any screenshots if you can.

Contact us at sppais-chall@uwyo.edu so we can help get you set up with the right version of the Challenge Exam.
  1. The Challenge Exam may be taken twice during a student's academic career. The sitting fee must be paid on each attempt. You will need to re-enroll in the Challenge Exam if you would like another attempt.
  2. You can also sign up for a course such as POLS 1000: American and Wyoming Government to meet the University of Wyoming's USP-V requirement or POLS 1100: Wyoming Government (if you only need to satisfy the Wyoming component of the V requirement.)
  3. If you like the idea of a structured class but also like the freedom of being able to dictate your own timeline of learning, you may be interested in exploring the option of registering for our "Self-Paced" version of the POLS 1000 class to fulfill your requirement (see below).

POLS 1000 (SELF-PACED)

What does it mean to take a "self-paced" course?

Our self-paced classes allow you to work through the content at your own pace during the course. Delivered through WyoCourses, your instructor will guide you through recorded and digital content, activities, and quizzes. They are available to you as a resource throughout the course.

 

Course Information:

Self-Paced Online

Credit Hours (3) | Prerequisites: none

POLS 1000 fulfills the United States and Wyoming Constitutions (V) requirement of the University Studies Program.

U.S. and Wyoming Constitution (V) courses provide students with an understanding of the historical development, cultural context and major principles of the constitutional documents and the political systems established by those documents. V courses also provide students with understandings of the relationships between the political institutions through which they are governed and their roles as responsible participating citizens.

 

Course Description:

This is an introductory college-level course in the organization and structure of American national government and of the government of the state of Wyoming. Undoubtedly, each of you has experienced classes in American government before. We find it necessary to differentiate the goal of this course from those you might have experienced before. To fulfill the mandate presented to the University of Wyoming by the state, we will discuss in relative depth both the Wyoming and U.S. constitutions and the governmental systems established by each. To address this goal, your knowledge will be tested in assignments and quizzes. Our governmental system is based on the notion of an enlightened electorate. This course is a small step toward that end.