Community college administrators face a dilemma in the implementation of placement policies regarding college algebra students. Extensive literature devoted to this subject has been generated in the last 100 years without consensus. Furthermore, faculty opinions of the current placement policies contribute to the presence of a discrepancy in the interpretation of placement models used in policy generation. Utilizing a statistically derived and analyzed model in conjunction with faculty and administrator interviews, a new interpretation of the results generated by placement models in terms of the type of prediction generated may assist in the generation of future placement policies. This new interpretation serves to resolve the discrepancy by redefining the capabilities of the statistical model within the context of the faculty and administrator views of current placement policy.