Select a Major Field Test discipline below to view a description of test content and sample questions. To review discipline-specific sample reports, see Reports.
ETS Major Field Test Content
Business
This test was developed specifically for students who are earning an associate degree in business at community colleges or 2-year business programs.
ETS has developed the Major Field Tests for Associate Degree Business Programs in partnership with the Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs (ACBSP), which has endorsed using the test to collect Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) metrics.
This test contains 120 multiple-choice questions designed to measure a student's subject knowledge and the ability to apply facts, concepts, theories and analytical methods. Some questions are grouped in sets and based on diagrams, charts and data tables. The questions represent a wide range of difficulty and cover depth and breadth in assessing students' achievement levels.
As the only comprehensive national assessment for program evaluation of its kind, this test consists of 124 multiple-choice questions, half of which are based on short case-study scenarios. Questions employ materials such as diagrams, graphs and statistical data. Mathematical operations do not require a calculator. Most of the questions require knowledge of specific information drawn from marketing, management, finance and managerial accounting, or a combination of these.
Humanities
This test consists of 150 multiple-choice questions on poetry, prose and drama. Some questions are based on short works printed in their entirety, while other questions focus on excerpts from longer works. Poetry selections include lyric verse, epic narrative and dramatic monologue. Prose selections draw on biography, the essay, the short story, the novel and literary criticism.
The test covers British and American works of all periods. It also contains a few questions on works, including the Bible, translated from foreign languages. Throughout the test, the emphasis is on major authors, works, genres and movements.
This test consists of 129 multiple-choice questions, a number of which are grouped in sets and based on recorded excerpts from music literature, excerpts from scores or other passages of music notation.
The subject matter is organized into two major areas: music theory and music history. Some of the questions within each of the major areas are designed to test examinees' analytical skills (both aural and written).
Social Sciences
This test consists of 150 multiple-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on such materials as diagrams, graphs and statistical data. Most of the questions require knowledge of specific information about the criminal justice system. The test also draws on the student's critical thinking ability to interpret data, to apply concepts and ideas, and to analyze data, theories and relationships, deductively and inductively.
This test consists of 90 multiple-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on materials such as diagrams, expository paragraphs, sets of equations and tables of data.
This test consists of 120 multiple-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on such materials as theory passages, statistical tables, matrices and sets of ungrouped data.
This test consists of 140 multiple-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on materials such as a description of an experiment or graphs of psychological functions.
This test consists of 140 multiple-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on such materials as diagrams, graphs and statistical data. Most of the questions require knowledge of specific sociological information, but the test also draws on the student's ability to interpret data, to apply concepts and ideas, and to analyze sociological data, theories and relationships, deductively and inductively.
STEM
This test consists of 150 multiple-choice questions, a number of which are grouped in sets and based on descriptions of laboratory and field situations, diagrams or experimental results. Some of the questions within each of the major areas are designed to test analytical skills.
This test consists of 100 multiple-choice questions. Some questions are grouped in sets and based on materials such as a descriptive paragraph or experimental results. Test questions are constructed to simplify mathematical manipulations. As a result, calculators are not needed.
This test consists of 66 multiple-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on materials such as diagrams, graphs and program fragments.
This test consists of 50 questions, some of which may be grouped in sets and based on such materials as diagrams and graphs. The questions are drawn from the courses of study most commonly offered as part of an undergraduate mathematics curriculum.
This test consists of 70 multiple-choice questions, some of which are grouped in sets and based on materials such as diagrams, graphs, experimental data and descriptions of physical situations. The emphasis of the test is on the students' firm grasp of fundamental principles and their ability to apply an understanding of them in the solution of problems. Most of the test questions can be answered on the basis of a mastery of the first 3 years of undergraduate physics.
Customize test content
Academic departments can choose the following customization options:
- Add up to two subgroup questions, which can help an institution identify performance of a specific group or compare across different groups (e.g., major, gender, ethnicity, transfer status).
- Add up to 50 locally authored questions, which can be used to cover an area of concentration unique to the program.1
The combined information from your own content plus your scores from the Major Field Test can help give you a better insight into your program.
1 Because the addition of locally authored questions lengthens test time, it is not available for remote proctored testing.