Academic Programs Catalog

A student who has prior knowledge of language other than English and wishes to enroll in courses in that language must determine the appropriate course level using one of the following methods:

1. Complete the appropriate language placement assessment. To find the contact information for the language program coordinator and the information about placement methods for a specific language, see https://languages.msu.edu/. Students should plan to take the placement assessment prior to their New Student Orientation date.
2. If a student has courses from another U.S. institution or AP or IB (HL) scores to transfer, the language departments will process the transfer. Students should refer to MSU transfer equivalencies guide online (https://languages.msu.edu/transfer-credits) and contact their advisor for placement. Some programs will transfer those credits as general credit units, at which point students still must take the placement assessment; other language programs will transfer them as equivalencies in their sequence and the student can simply enroll in the next course level.

Please note that native speakers are not permitted to take lower-level (100- and 200-level) language courses.  

Meeting the Language Requirement

Students whose degree program requires a specific language skill level in a language other than English can fulfill the requirement in one of three ways:

1. Successfully complete the course-level required by their degree program or a course above that level.
2. Transfer credits from elsewhere at the course level or above required by their degree program. Note that all transfer credits will be reviewed by the language programs. Some language programs transfer credits as general credit units, in which case steps 1 or 3 would also be necessary.
3. Take a language placement assessment approved by that language program in a proctored environment. The student must receive a score that would place them in the course level above the course level they need to fulfill their language requirement. Students must contact the language program coordinator for the language to schedule the proctored assessment. See https://languages.msu.edu/.

Some assessments will be proctored by the MSU Testing Center others by the appropriate faculty from the languages. The language department advisor will note in the Electronic Student Academic Folder which language level the student has achieved. 

Please note that:

• a four-semester language requirement typically means that a student must demonstrate fourth semester (e.g., GRM 202) language skills and not necessarily that they have to take four semesters of a language;
• some degree programs or certifications have specific language proficiency requirement rather than seat-time requirements (i.e., those students must prove their language proficiency with an appropriate proficiency test and successfully completing a course will not be sufficient to fulfill those requirements).

Students with additional questions about a language or language options should reach out to the language program coordinator of that language. See https://languages.msu.edu/.