Students who attend two-year institutions are not always academically prepared for the level of work that is required to be successful. Two-year institutions determine students' readiness for college-level mathematics courses using one of three placement methods. However, few empirical studies have investigated which placement methods are most effective in predicting academic success. The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the placement methods that best predict student success in college-level mathematics courses at a two-year college located in the midwestern United States. Through binary logistic regression, data obtained from the academic records of 1,330 students from a Midwestern U. S. two-year institution revealed a positive statistically significant relationship between placement methods and students' academic success. Students placed using ACT/SAT mathematics score or ACCUPLACER methods, respectively, were 1.85 (p [less than] 0.05) and 3.91 (p [less than] 0.001) times less likely to pass their college mathematics course compared to those students who were placed using high school grade point average (GPA). Students who took pre-calculus were 1.66 times more likely to pass than students who took statistics (p [less than] 0.05) after controlling for the sociodemographic and placement type variables in the model. Age had a positive relationship with passing (OR = 1.05, p [less than] 0.01). Full-time students were 1.50 times less likely than part-time students to pass (p [less than] 0 05). Pell Grant eligible students were 1.57 times less likely than non-Pell Grant eligible participants to pass (p[less than] 0.05). Placing students using high school GPA may improve success in college-level mathematics courses. Higher education policymakers should consider the use of high school GPA as the central method to place students into these courses. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]