Frequently Asked Questions

Pre-PAC (Pre-Professional Assessment and Certification) is a premier national assessment and certification program providing an integrated system that recognizes individual competency achievement and builds value of programs through accountability (achievement levels and improvement trends), articulation possibilities, and business/industry recognition.  Through Pre-PAC, AAFCS offers a portfolio of third-party, standards-based assessments and corresponding industry certifications in a variety of content areas.  Click here to see the full portfolio of products.

A large bank of high quality, valid assessment items have been developed and pilot-tested for each Pre-PAC assessment.  Each assessment administered is a unique combination of 80, four-option multiple choice items randomly selected from the item bank in accordance with the assessment blueprint (regarding content and cognitive complexity).  Each of the items has only one (1) correct response. Of the 80 items presented on the assessment, 70 are scored and 10 are non-scored (used for piloting and research purposes).  The assessment is administered on-line only. There are no paper-pencil versions of the assessment available. The Assessment Information Bulletin includes an “assessment at a glance” table that indicates each topic area and the specific number of items included in the assessment.  Although the actual test items from the test bank are not available for review, the assessment blueprint and the expanded competency list are available for download on the AAFCS Pre-PAC website.  The blueprint and expanded list have been widely used to correlate and align curriculum. In addition, sample test items are included in the Assessment Information Bulletin.  To experience the appearance and navigation of the online assessment, a sample assessment is available. To access, click on the link and log in with your name and "Sample" as the group, and click "Enter." Click on the "State Capitals Demo" sample assessment and begin. Click here to access the sample assessment!

The AAFCS Pre-PAC testing year begins on August 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year.  A new test site approval application must be completed each testing year in order for a new test site code to be assigned by AAFCS.

AAFCS recommends that one person does NOT serve in both the Test Site Administrator and Test Site Coordinator roles.  Having two individuals to serve as liaisons with AAFCS works best.

AAFCS Pre-PAC accepts most major credit cards (VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express).  Payment can be made via check (payable to AAFCS).  Purchase orders are accepted.

Please send any vendor applications, paperwork, or instructions to AAFCS via email.  Please allow several business days for processing the applications.  The current AAFCS W-9 is available online on the "Resources" page.

Neither the individual assessment items nor the assessment itself is timed.  However, the assessment must be completed in one sitting/administration. The assessment includes 80 test items (70 scored, 10 unscored and used for research purposes).

The average testing time ranges from 45 to 55 minutes.   This time will vary from candidate to candidate.  The assessment must be completed in one sitting.

The cut scores to earn pre-professional certification for each individual assessment may vary.  The cut scores are evaluated, established, and posted on the Pre-PAC webpage annually.  Click here to access the current and complete list of certification cut scores.

Individual assessment results are available to the test candidate immediately upon submission of the assessment.  Using log-in credentials provided by AAFCS, the test site administrator and test site coordinator have access to the individual and test site results within 24 hours of test administration.  There are a variety of standard reports available to the test site.  There are no additional costs for those reports.  The reports include:  score list reports, transcript reports, and assessment overview.  The test site reports include individual candidate data, as well as overall mean scores, mean scores for each domain, and standard deviation.  In addition, test sites can export their results into Microsoft Excel for long-term storage and tracking.