Foreign Language Placement

Students are expected to enroll in a foreign language course at the appropriate level. 1) Before their arrival on campus, freshmen who have had any previous experience in a foreign language are required to take an online placement examination. 2) On-campus students who wish to enroll in a foreign language in which they have had any previous experience must report to the Edwin C. Carpenter Language Learning Center (MC 305) in order to receive additional information regarding the placement examination.

Students may enroll for credit only in the course in which they have been placed. Students with three years or more of high school coursework in a foreign language will not be allowed to enroll for credit in the first semester of the elementary level in that language, regardless of placement results. Such students may choose to audit the first semester of the elementary level or any higher course they have bypassed through placement. No self-placement is permitted. Placement test results must be followed. Only the instructor of the course in which the student is placed is in a position to revise this placement. Students should consult their advisor for their placement level, which is found on their Student Profile Sheet and on their Freshman Registration Worksheet.

Non-traditional students merit special consideration, if they have taken off one year or more from formal study after graduation from high school. Such students who have taken three or more years of one foreign language in high school and who wish to continue their study of the same language will not be barred from taking the first semester of an elementary course in that language if they are so placed, unless the last year of such study was within the last four years. If the last year of their high school foreign language experience was that recent and they still score in the lowest range on the placement test, they too, are encouraged to audit the first semester, but they will not be permitted to take it for credit.