DePaul University :: Department of Modern Languages

Modern Language Competency Requirement

For students earning a B.A. from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences or a B.A. from the School of Education:

Students who intend to graduate with the Bachelor of Arts Degree must demonstrate competence in a modern language by one of these means:

completing a course at the fourth year level of language study in high school
achieving a score of 3 or higher on the Advanced Placement test for any language
achieving a score of 50 or higher on the CLEP examination for any language
achieving the corresponding score on a DePaul language placement test: French (48), German (40), Italian (46), Japanese (85), Spanish (56)
achieving a satisfactory score from a certified proficiency test or tester for any language
completing one year of college-level study in any language

Students with any prior study or knowledge of a language must take a placement or proficiency test before enrolling in language courses at DePaul. For further information, choose "Language placement testing" from the menu at left. For information regarding certified placement or proficiency testing for languages not taught at DePaul, please contact the Modern Languages Department.

B.A. students who meet the College requirements and wish to pursue further work in the language may elect the "Modern Language Option" (see below) of the Liberal Studies Program. While B.S. students are not required to demonstrate competency in a modern language, the "Modern Language Option" is also available to them for language study at any level.

The Modern Language Option is not available to students whose first major is a modern language, with the exception of the junior experiential learning and the senior capstone requirements, which modern language majors may fulfill with modern language courses. Students whose second major is a language may use courses in that language to exercise the "Modern Language Option."

Modern Language Option

For all other students:

The Modern Language Option is available to all B.A. students who wish to study a modern language beyond the level necessary to meet the College's language requirement and to B.S. students who wish to study a Modern Language at any level. Students selecting the option may substitute a three-course language sequence for two domain courses and one open elective. Students may use the Modern Language option to reduce their requirements by one course among two of the following combinations of learning domains. Philosophical Inquiry or Religious Dimensions; Understanding the Past or Self , Society, and the Modern World; Arts and Literature or Scientific Inquiry (cannot substitute for the lab science requirement.)