Two-year colleges often require all students to gain an understanding of intermediate algebra prior to graduation, regardless of their course of study. High scorers may be exempt from taking certain mathematics courses, while low scorers may have to take remedial mathematics courses. Four-year colleges and universities typically require more high school mathematics preparation for admission. Typical state four-year colleges and universities recommend, and in some cases require, that all students take at least three, and sometimes four, years of mathematics in high school. Furthermore, almost all of these students had taken algebra and geometry, and more than half had taken trigonometry.
Most state colleges require students to take mathematics placement exams upon enrollment.
Colleges look favorably on Advanced Placement courses and often place students who have taken them out of introductory mathematics courses. While graduation requirements differ depending on the students' major, many popular majors, such as Business and Psychology, require students to take several more rigorous courses in mathematics or science. In the job market, workers who have strong mathematics and science backgrounds are more likely to be employed and generally earn more than workers with lower achievement, even if they have not gone on to college. Similarly, the unemployment rate among high school graduates who scored in the top quartile of the mathematics test was only 4.4 percent. The unemployment rate was 10.3 percent among high school graduates who scored in the lowest quartile.