Each school and college at Northern is in charge of its own exit exam testing, coordinated by the director of University-Wide Assessment. All ETS Major Field tests (MFT) are given online.

All baccalaureate candidates must complete the appropriate exit exam(s) in their major field(s) of study. Testing should take place in the student's final semester to ensure that relevant material covered on the test will have been covered in coursework. In the event of internship or other conflict with testing in the final semester, with appropriate approvals, it may be possible to arrange to test in the semester prior to the final semester before graduation.

If you have more than one major, a good strategy is to take one exit exam per semester up to and including the semester in which you graduate - that is, if those additional majors require you to take different exit exams.

If you have applied for graduation but don't take the required exit exam(s), your application for graduation will be cancelled and you will need to reapply the following semester.

BSED majors must take Praxis content and Praxis PLT exams for their exits to be certified to teach. In addition to Praxis exits, there are some secondary education major areas that require their graduates to take other defined exit exams. Refer to the informational document link below.

Major Field Test (MFT) Description: Developed by a national panel of experts, the exit exam is a comprehensive assessment tool designed to measure a student's ability to utilize concepts and critical thinking to analyze and solve problems, and to understand and interpret materials within their major field of study. Each exam is a standard exit exam created by ETS.

Some major areas require their graduates to take local exit exams. Refer to the informational document below.

Please see the Senior Exit Exams FAQ page for more information.