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.
| Institution | Foreign Language (Required) | Foreign Language (Recommended) |
|---|---|---|
| American University | 2 | 3 |
| Amherst College | 3-4 | |
| Babson College | ||
| Barnard College | 3 | |
| Bates College | 2 | 4 |
| Boston College | 4 | |
| Boston University | 2 | 4 |
| Bowdoin College | 4 | |
| Brandeis University | 4 | |
| Brigham Young University | 2 | |
| Brown University | 3 | 4 |
| Bryn Mawr College | 3 | |
| Bucknell University | 2 | 4 |
| California Institute of Technology | ||
| Carleton College | 3 | |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 2 | |
| Case Western Reserve University | 2 | 3 |
| Claremont McKenna College | 3 | 3 |
| Clemson University | 2 | 3 |
| Colby College | 3 | |
| Colgate University | 3 | 4 |
| College of William and Mary | 4 | |
| Colorado College | ||
| Colorado School of Mines | 1 | |
| Columbia University | 4 | |
| Cornell University | 4 | |
| Dartmouth College | 4 | |
| Davidson College | 2 | 4 |
| Duke University | 3 | |
| Emory University | 4 | |
| Fordham University | 2 | 4 |
| George Washington University | 2 | 4 |
| Georgetown University | 2 | 4 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | 2 | |
| Grinnell College | 3 | |
| Hamilton College | 3 | |
| Harvard University | 4 | |
| Harvey Mudd College | 2 | |
| Haverford College | 3 | |
| Johns Hopkins University | 4 | |
| Kenyon College | 3 | 4 |
| Lafayette College | 2 | |
| Lehigh University | 2 | |
| Macalester College | 3 | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2 | |
| Middlebury College | 3 | |
| Mount Holyoke College | 3-4 | |
| New York University | 3 | 4 |
| Northeastern University | 2 | 3-4 |
| Northwestern University | 2 | |
| Oberlin College | 3 | |
| Occidental College | 3 | |
| Ohio State University | 2 | 3 |
| Penn State University | 2 | 3 |
| Pepperdine University | ||
| Pomona College | 3 | 4 |
| Princeton University | 4 | |
| Purdue University | 2 | |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | ||
| Rice University | 2 | |
| Rutgers University | 2 | |
| Santa Clara University | 2 | 3-4 |
| Scripps College | 3 | |
| Sewanee: University of the South | 2 | 4 |
| Smith College | 3 | |
| Southern Methodist University | 2 | 3 |
| Stanford University | 3 | |
| Stevens Institute of Technology | ||
| Swarthmore College | 3 | |
| Syracuse University | 3 | |
| Texas A&M University | 2 | 2 |
| Tufts University | 3 | 4 |
| Tulane University | 2 | 3 |
| United States Air Force Academy | 2 | 2 |
| United States Military Academy | ||
| United States Naval Academy | 2 | |
| University of California, Berkeley | 2 | |
| University of California, Davis | 2 | |
| University of California, Irvine | 2 | |
| University of California, Los Angeles | 2 | |
| University of California, San Diego | 2 | |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 2 | |
| University of Chicago | 3 | |
| University of Connecticut, Storrs | 2 | 3 |
| University of Delaware | 2 | 4 |
| University of Florida | 2 | |
| University of Georgia | 2 | 3 |
| University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign | 2 | 4 |
| University of Maryland | 2 | 2 |
| University of Miami | 2 | |
| University of Michigan | 2 | 4 |
| University of Minnesota | 2 | 2 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 2 | |
| University of Notre Dame | 4 | |
| University of Pennsylvania | 4 | |
| University of Pittsburgh | 2 | 3 |
| University of Richmond | 2 | 4 |
| University of Rochester | ||
| University of Southern California | 2 | 3 |
| University of Texas at Austin | 2 | |
| University of Virginia | 2 | 5 |
| University of Washington | 2 | 3 |
| University of Wisconsin | 3 | 4 |
| Vanderbilt University | 4 | |
| Vassar College | 4 | |
| Villanova University | 2 | 4 |
| Virginia Tech | 3 | |
| Wake Forest University | 2 | 4 |
| Washington and Lee University | 3 | 4 |
| Washington University in St. Louis | 2 | |
| Wellesley College | 4 | |
| Wesleyan University | 4 | |
| Williams College | 4 | |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 2 | |
| Yale University | 4 |