Foreign Language Requirements for College

One would think that high school graduation requirements in the area of foreign language would match those of the nation’s premier colleges and universities. Sadly, that would be giving the public educational system far too much credit. Presently, 23 U.S. states do not require the two years of foreign language study that is required for admittance into many colleges. Therefore, an unfortunate number of high school students may mistakenly think that they do not need to take a language to get into their dream university—after all, their high school must know what it's doing, right? Before a teenager decides whether or not to say "bonjour," "hola," or "hallo" to the language of their choosing, they should be fully aware of the standards for admission at their prospective schools. Below, College Transitions has put together a list of foreign language requirements at many of the top institutions in the United States.

*Data collected from institution websites and 2020-21 Common Data Set (CDS) forms.

Table updated October 2021

Institution	Foreign Language units (Required)	Foreign Language units (Recommended)
University of Alabama at Birmingham	1
University of Alabama	1	2
Auburn University		1
Birmingham Southern College
Samford University	2	2
Arizona State University	2
University of Arizona	2	2
Northern Arizona University	2
University of Arkansas		2
Hendrix College	2	2
California Institute of Technology		3
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo	2	4
Cal Poly, Pomona	2
California State University, Fresno	2
California State University, Fullerton	2	2
California State University, Long Beach	2	2
University of California, Berkeley	2	3
University of California, Davis	2	3
University of California, Irvine	2	3
University of California, Los Angeles	2	3
University of California, Riverside	2	3
University of California, San Diego	2	3
University of California, Santa Barbara	2	3
University of California, Santa Cruz	2	3
Chapman University	2	4
Claremont McKenna College	3	3
Harvey Mudd College		2
Loyola Marymount University		3
Occidental College		3
University of the Pacific		2
Pepperdine University
Pitzer College	3	3
Pomona College	3	4
University of Redlands	2	3
San Diego State University	3
University of San Diego	3	4
San Francisco State University	2	2
University of San Francisco	2
San Jose State University	2
Santa Clara University	2	3
Scripps College	3
Saint Mary's College of California	2	3
Sonoma State University	2	2
University of Southern California	2	3
Westmont College	2	3
Whittier College	2	3
University of Colorado Boulder	3
Colorado College
Colorado School of Mines	1	2
Colorado State University	1	2
University of Denver		2
University of Northern Colorado	1	1
United States Air Force Academy		2
Connecticut College
University of Connecticut	2	3
Eastern Connecticut State University	2	2
Fairfield University	2	4
Quinnipiac University	2	2
Sacred Heart University	2	4
Southern Connecticut State University	2	4
Trinity College	3
United States Coast Guard Academy
Wesleyan University		4
Yale University
University of Delaware	2	4
American University	2	3
Catholic University of America	3	3
George Washington University	2	4
Georgetown University	2	4
Howard University	2	2
University of Central Florida	2
Eckerd College		2
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	2
Florida Atlantic University	2
Florida Institute of Technology		2
Florida International University	2
Florida Southern College		2
Florida State University	2	4
University of Florida	2
University of Miami		4
University of North Florida	2
Rollins College	2	3
University of South Florida	2	2
Stetson University	2
University of Tampa	2	2
Agnes Scott College	2	2
Berry College	2
Emory University		4
Georgia Institute of Technology	2
Georgia College	2
Georgia Southern University	2
Georgia State University	2	2
University of Georgia	2	3
Mercer University	2
Morehouse College		2
Spelman College	2	2
Boise State University		2
University of Idaho
Augustana College	1	2
Bradley University		2
University of Chicago		3
DePaul University		2
University of Illinois at Chicago	2	2
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	2	4
Illinois Wesleyan University		3
Illinois Institute of Technology		2
Illinois State University	2	2
Knox College		3
Lake Forest College	2	4
Loyola University Chicago	2	2
Northwestern University	2	2
Wheaton College (IL)	2	3
Ball State University		2
Butler University	2
DePauw University	2
Earlham College	2	2
Hanover College	2	4
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
Indiana University Bloomington	2
University of Notre Dame	2	4
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Saint Mary's College	2	4
Valparaiso University	2	2
Wabash College		2
Cornell College	2	2
Drake University		2
Grinnell College		3
Iowa State University	2	3
University of Iowa	2	4
University of Northern Iowa		4
University of Kansas
Kansas State University
Wichita State University		3
Berea College		2
Centre College	2	4
Eastern Kentucky University	2
Georgetown College	2	2
University of Kentucky	2
University of Louisville	2	3
Murray State University	2
Transylvania University	2	2
Louisiana State University	2
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	2
Tulane University		3
Bates College	2	4
Bowdoin College		4
Colby College		3
University of Maine		2
Goucher College	2	4
Johns Hopkins University		4
Loyola University Maryland	3	4
University of Maryland, Baltimore County	2
University of Maryland, College Park	2	2
Salisbury University	2	3
St. Mary's College of Maryland		4
St. John's College (MD)	2	4
Towson University	2
United States Naval Academy		2
Washington College	2	4
McDaniel College	3	4
Amherst College		3
Assumption College	2
Babson College		4
Bentley University	3	3
Boston College		4
Boston University	2	4
Brandeis University		4
Clark University		2
Emerson College	3	3
Endicott College		2
Fitchburg State University	2
Hampshire College	3	4
Harvard University		4
College of the Holy Cross		4
University of Massachusetts Lowell	2	2
University of Massachusetts Amherst	2
University of Massachusetts Boston	2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology		2
Massachusetts Maritime Academy	2	2
Merrimack College	2
Mount Holyoke College	3	4
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts	2
Northeastern University	2	4
Salem State University	2
Simmons University	3
Smith College		3
Stonehill College	3	4
Suffolk University	2	4
Tufts University	3	4
Wellesley College		4
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Wheaton College (MA)		4
Williams College		4
Worcester Polytechnic Institute		2
Albion College		2
Central Michigan University	2	2
Kettering University
Hillsdale College		3
Hope College		4
Kalamazoo College	3	4
University of Michigan	2	4
Michigan State University	2	2
Michigan Technological University		2
University of Michigan-Dearborn	2	2
Northern Michigan University		2
Oakland University		2
Wayne State University		2
Western Michigan University		2
Carleton College		3
Gustavus Adolphus College	2	3
Macalester College		3
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	2	2
University of Minnesota-Duluth		2
University of Minnesota-Morris	2
College of Saint Benedict		2
Saint Johns University		2
St Olaf College		4
University of St Thomas		4
Millsaps College	1	2
University of Mississippi	2	2
Mississippi State University
University of Missouri-Columbia	2
Missouri University of Science and Technology	2
Truman State University	2	2
Saint Louis University	3	3
Washington University in St. Louis	2	4
Montana State University
The University of Montana		2
Creighton University	2	3
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	2
University of Nevada-Las Vegas
University of Nevada-Reno
Dartmouth College		4
University of New Hampshire	2	3
Saint Anselm College	2	4
Drew University	2	2
Rowan University	2
Monmouth University		2
Montclair State University	2	4
New Jersey Institute of Technology		2
Princeton University		4
Ramapo College of New Jersey	2	2
Rutgers University-Camden	2
Rutgers University-New Brunswick	2	2
Rutgers University-Newark	2
Seton Hall University	2
Stevens Institute of Technology	2	4
Stockton University
The College of New Jersey	2	2
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology		2
University of New Mexico	2
New Mexico State University-Main Campus
Adelphi University		2
Alfred University
Bard College	4	4
Barnard College		3
Canisius College	2	4
Clarkson University
Colgate University	3	4
Columbia University	3	4
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art		4
Cornell University
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	2	2
CUNY Brooklyn College		3
CUNY City College	3	3
CUNY Hunter College		2
CUNY Lehman College	2	2
Fordham University	2	4
Hamilton College	3	3
Hobart William Smith Colleges	2	3
Hofstra University	2	3
Ithaca College	2	3
Manhattan College	2	3
Marist College	2	3
New York University	3	4
Niagara University	2	2
New York Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rochester Institute of Technology		3
University of Rochester
St Bonaventure University		2
St Lawrence University		4
Sarah Lawrence College	2	4
Siena College	2	3
Skidmore College		4
St John's University-New York		2
SUNY at Albany	1	3
Binghamton University	3
University at Buffalo		3
Stony Brook University		3
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry		3
SUNY College at Brockport	1
SUNY Cortland	3	4
SUNY at Fredonia	3	3
SUNY College at Geneseo		4
State University of New York at New Paltz	2	4
SUNY Oneonta	3	4
SUNY College at Oswego	2	4
SUNY College at Potsdam		3
SUNY at Purchase College	3
SUNY College at Plattsburgh		3
Syracuse University		3
Union College	2	3
United States Merchant Marine Academy		2
United States Military Academy		2
Vassar College		4
Wagner College	2
Yeshiva University		2
Appalachian State University
Davidson College	2	4
Duke University		4
East Carolina University	2	2
Elon University	2	3
High Point University	2	3
University of North Carolina at Asheville	2
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	2
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	2	3
University of North Carolina at Greensboro	2	2
North Carolina State University	2	2
University of North Carolina Wilmington	2
Wake Forest University	2	4
Warren Wilson College		2
Western Carolina University	2	2
University of North Dakota
North Dakota State University-Main Campus
University of Akron Main Campus
Bowling Green State University	2
Case Western Reserve University	2	3
University of Cincinnati
University of Dayton		2
Denison University		4
John Carroll University	2	3
Kent State University at Kent		2
Kenyon College	3	4
Miami University		2
Oberlin College	3
Ohio State University	2	3
Ohio University	2
Ohio Wesleyan University	2	3
University of Toledo		2
The College of Wooster	2	2
Xavier University		2
Oklahoma State University
University of Oklahoma		2
University of Tulsa		2
Lewis & Clark College		2
Linfield College-McMinnville Campus		2
Oregon Institute of Technology	2
Oregon State University	2
University of Oregon	2
Portland State University	2
University of Portland	2	3
Reed College
Willamette University		4
Allegheny College	2
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania		2
Bryn Mawr College		4
Bucknell University	2	4
Carnegie Mellon University	2	2
Dickinson College	2	3
Drexel University		1
Duquesne University	2
Elizabethtown College	2	2
Franklin and Marshall College	2	4
Gettysburg College	3	4
Grove City College		3
Haverford College	3	3
Juniata College	2	2
La Salle University	2
Lafayette College	2	2
Lehigh University	2	2
Lycoming College	2	3
Mercyhurst University	2	2
Messiah College	2	2
Millersville University of Pennsylvania		2
Moravian College	2	2
Muhlenberg College	2	4
Pennsylvania State University - University Park	2	3
University of Pennsylvania		4
University of Pittsburgh	2	3
Saint Joseph's University	2
University of Scranton	2	2
Susquehanna University		2
Swarthmore College		3
Temple University	2	2
Ursinus College	2	3
Villanova University	3	4
Washington & Jefferson College	2	3
West Chester University of Pennsylvania		2
Widener University	2	2
Brown University	3	4
Bryant University	2	2
Providence College	3	4
University of Rhode Island	1
Rhode Island School of Design
Roger Williams University		2
Salve Regina University	2
College of Charleston	3
Citadel Military College of South Carolina	2
Clemson University	2	3
Furman University	2	3
Presbyterian College	2	3
University of South Carolina	2
Coastal Carolina University	2
Winthrop University	2	2
Wofford College	3	3
South Dakota State University
University of South Dakota
Belmont University	2	2
University of Memphis	2
Rhodes College	2
The University of the South	2	4
The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga	2
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville		2
Tennessee Technological University	2
Vanderbilt University	2	2
Austin College	2	3
Baylor University	2
University of Dallas	2	3
University of Houston		2
University of North Texas	2
Rice University	2
Sam Houston State University	2
Southern Methodist University	2	3
Southwestern University	2	3
Texas State University	2	2
Texas A & M University-College Station	2	2
The University of Texas at Arlington	2	2
The University of Texas at Austin	2
The University of Texas at Dallas	2	3
Texas Christian University	2	4
Trinity University	2	2
Brigham Young University-Provo		2
University of Utah		2
Bennington College		3
Middlebury College		4
Norwich University		2
Saint Michael's College	2	4
University of Vermont	2
College of William and Mary		4
Christopher Newport University	3	3
George Mason University	2	3
James Madison University	3	3
University of Mary Washington	3	4
Old Dominion University	3	3
Randolph-Macon College	2	3
University of Richmond	2	4
Roanoke College	2	2
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University		3
Virginia Commonwealth University	2	3
University of Virginia-Main Campus	2	4
Virginia Military Institute	3	4
Washington and Lee University	3	4
Gonzaga University	2	3
University of Puget Sound		3
Seattle University	2	2
Washington State University	2	2
University of Washington	2	3
Western Washington University	2
Whitman College		2
Whitworth University	2	2
Marshall University		2
West Virginia University	2
Beloit College		2
Lawrence University		2
Marquette University		2
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Ripon College		2
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse		3
University of Wisconsin-Madison	3	4
University of Wyoming
Stanford University		3
Purdue University	2	2
St. John's College (NM)	2	4
New College of Florida	2	4
University of Washington-Bothell Campus
Soka University of America		2
Florida Gulf Coast University	2
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering		2
University of California, Merced	2	3
University of North Georgia	2	2

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