Placement exams

All undergraduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (except those pursuing a bachelor of public affairs degree) must successfully satisfy the CLAS group language requirement.

Students can do so by completing two courses in a single foreign language or by taking and passing a language proficiency exam. A third semester of a foreign language satisfies the university's global learning requirement.

Bilingual students

Bilingual students who were born in and completed their secondary education in a country whose national language is not English automatically fulfill the language requirement. However, no credit (through coursework or examination) will be granted for that language's elementary- or intermediate-level courses.

Bilingual students who satisfy the foreign language group requirement in this manner will simultaneously fulfill the university's general education requirement in foreign cultures.

Contact our academic advisor, Chris Clark, to have your student record adjusted to indicate you have completed these requirements through being bilingual.

Basic language sequence option

Under this option, students must take and pass two courses in a single foreign language. Proficiency is proven by completing courses numbered 1010 and 1020 (or 1060, where it is offered) in one of the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Russian or Spanish.

If you studied a foreign language in high school or at another college or university, you can potentially start at a higher course level by taking a placement examination (see the next section). The foreign language requirement will be considered satisfied by those students whose test scores place them beyond the basic (1020) level.

Language proficiency exam/placement exam

Students can take a Language Proficiency Exam to fulfill the Foreign Language Requirement. We offer exams in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Modern Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Italian, Latin, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Spanish. There is a non-refundable $20 fee for departmental language exams. For more information, please contact our academic advisor, Chris Clark.

Latin

Students with a working knowledge of Latin can take a translation exam (two hours, with a dictionary). A passage of approximately 500 words will be drawn from Caesar Bellum Civile, Cicero In Catilinam I, Livy Book I and Suetonius Augustus. The exam will be administered on the first Friday of each fall and winter semester. You must register by the end of the previous semester. Students with a rudimentary knowledge of Latin should enroll in an appropriate Latin course upon the recommendation of the undergraduate mentor for classics, Dr. Thomas Kohn. For more information on the Latin language option, please contact Dr. Thomas Kohn.

Spanish

Students may only take the proficiency exam once per rolling 12-month period. For example, if you were to take the exam on Sept. 1, 2024, you would be eligible to re-take the exam the following year on Sept. 1, 2025.

Graduate language requirement for Ph.D. students in CLAS departments

Ph.D. students in liberal arts departments can satisfy their departmental foreign language requirement through an examination in a language offered by CMLLC that satisfies the requirements of their degree-granting department. Please consult with your graduate director/advisor as to the requirements of your degree.