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 2019-20 Common Data Set (CDS) forms.

Table updated August 30, 2020

Institution	Foreign Language (Required)	Foreign Language (Recommended)
Adelphi University		2
Agnes Scott College		2
Albion College		2
Alfred University	2	3
Allegheny College	2
American University	2	3
Amherst College		3
Appalachian State University	2
Arizona State University	2
Auburn University		1
Augustana College (IL)	1	2
Austin College	2	3
Babson College		4
Ball State University	3
Bard College		4
Barnard College		3
Baruch College (CUNY)	2
Bates College	2	4
Baylor University		2
Belmont University	2	2
Beloit College		2
Berea College		2
Bennington College
Bentley University	3	4
Binghamton University	3
Birmingham Southern College		2
Boise State University		1
Boston College		4
Boston University	2	4
Bowdoin College		4
Bowling Green State University	2
Bradley University		2
Brandeis University		4
Brigham Young University		2
Brooklyn College (CUNY)		3
Brown University	3	4
Bryant University	2	2
Bryn Mawr College		4
Bucknell University	2	4
Butler University	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	3
California State Univesrsity - Long Beach	2
Calvin College		2
Canisius College	2	4
Carleton College		3
Carnegie Mellon University	2	2
Case Western Reserve University	2	3
Catholic University		3
Centre College	2	4
Chapman University	2	4
Christopher Newport University	3	3
City College (CUNY)	3
Claremont McKenna College	3	3
Clark University		2
Clarkson University
Clemson University	2	3
Colby College		3
Colgate University	3	4
College of Charleston	3
College of New Jersey, The	2	2
College of St Benedict		2
College of the Atlantic		2
College of the Holy Cross		4
College of William & Mary		4
Colorado College
Colorado School of Mines	1
Colorado State University	1	2
Columbia University	3	4
Connecticut College
Cooper Union		2
Cornell College		2
Cornell University		3
Creighton University	2	3
Dartmouth College		4
Davidson College	2	4
Denison University		4
DePaul University		2
DePauw University	2
Dickinson College	2	3
Drake University		2
Drew University		2
Drexel University		1
Duke University		3
Duquesne University		2
Earlham College	2	2
East Carolina University	2	2
Eckerd College		2
Elon University	2	3
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University		1
Emerson College		1
Emory University		4
Evergreen State College	2
Fairfield University	2	4
Florida Atlantic University	2
Florida Institute of Technology		2
Florida International University	2
Florida State University	2	4
Fordham University	2	4
Franklin & Marshall College	2	4
Franklin W Olin College of Engineering		2
Furman University	2	3
George Mason University	2	3
George Washington University	2	4
Georgetown College
Georgetown University		2
Georgia College	2
Georgia Institute of Technology	2
Georgia Southern University	2
Georgia State University	2
Gettysburg College	3	4
Gonzaga University	2	3
Goucher College	2	4
Grinnell College		3
Gustavus Adolphus College	2	3
Hamilton College		3
Hampshire College	3	4
Harvard University		4
Harvey Mudd College		2
Haverford College		3
Hendrix College		2
High Point University	2	3
Hobart and William Smith Colleges		4
Hofstra University	2	3
Hollins University		3
Hood College	2	3
Hope College		4
Howard University	2
Hunter College (CUNY)		2
Illinois Institute of Technology		2
Illinois Wesleyan University		3
Indiana University - Purdue U Indianapolis
Indiana University Bloomington	2
Iowa State University	2	3
Ithaca College	2	3
James Madison University		2
Johns Hopkins University		4
Juniata College
Kalamazoo College	3	4
Kansas State University
Kennesaw State University	2	2
Kent State University		2
Kenyon College	3	4
Kettering University
Knox College		3
Lafayette College		2
Lake Forest College	2	4
Lawrence University		2
Lehigh University	2	3
Lewis & Clark College		2
Louisiana State University	2
Louisiana Tech University	2
Loyola Marymount University		3
Loyola University Chicago	2	2
Loyola University Maryland
Loyola University New Orleans		2
Macalester College		3
Manhattan College	2	3
Marist College	2	3
Marquette University		2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology		2
Messiah College	2	2
Miami University		2
Michigan State University	2
Middlebury College		3
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Mississippi State University
Missouri Univ of Science and Technology	2
Montana State University
Morehouse College		2
Mount Holyoke College		4
Muhlenberg College	2	4
New College of Florida	2	4
New Jersey Institute of Technology		2
New Mexico State University	1
New York University	3	4
North Carolina State University	2
Northeastern University	2
Northwestern University		2
Oberlin College	3
Occidental College
Oglethorpe University	2
Ohio State University	2	3
Ohio University	2
Ohio Wesleyan University	2	3
Oklahoma State University
Old Dominion University	3	3
Oregon State University	2
Penn State University, University Park	2	3
Pepperdine University
Pitzer College		3
Pomona College	3	4
Princeton University		4
Providence College	3	4
Purdue University - West Lafayette	3
Quinnipiac University	2
Ramapo College of New Jersey	2
Reed College		3
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhodes College	2
Rice University	2
Rochester Institute of Technology		2
Rollins College	2
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Rutgers University	2
Saint Louis University	3
Saint John's University (NY)		2
Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame	2	4
Saint Michael's College	2	4
Samford University	2
San Diego State University	2
San Francisco State University	2	2
San Jose State University	2
Santa Clara University	2	4
Sarah Lawrence College	2	4
Scripps College	3
Seattle University	2	2
Seton Hall University	2
Sewanee - The University of the South	2	4
Siena College	2	3
Simmons University	3
Skidmore College		4
Smith College		3
Soka University of America		2
Southern Methodist University	2	3
Southwestern University	2	3
Spelman College	2	2
St John's College (MD)		4
St John's College (NM)		4
St John's University (MN)		2
St Joseph's University	2	4
St Lawrence University		4
St Mary's College of Maryland		4
St Olaf College		4
Stanford University		3
Stevens Institute of Technology		2
Stonehill College	3	4
Stony Brook University		3
SUNY, Oneonta	3	4
SUNY, Maritime College	1
SUNY, Polytechnic Institute		3
SUNY, New Paltz	2	4
SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry		3
SUNY, Geneseo		4
SUNY, Oswego	2	4
SUNY, Purchase College		3
University at Albany (SUNY)	1	3
Susquehanna University		2
Swarthmore College		3
Syracuse University		3
Temple University	2	2
Tennessee Technological University	2
Texas A&M University - College Station	2	2
Texas Christian University	2	4
Texas Tech University	2	2
Thomas Aquinas College	2
The Citadel	2
The College of Wooster	2
Towson University	2
Transylvania University	2	2
Trinity College (CT)	3
Trinity University	2	2
Truman State University	2	2
Tufts University	3	4
Tulane University		3
Union College	2	3
United States Air Force Academy		2
United States Coast Guard Academy
United States Merchant Marine Academy		2
United States Military Academy		2
United States Naval Academy		2
University at Buffalo (SUNY)		3
University of Alabama	1	2
University of Arizona	2	2
University of Arkansas		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, Merced	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
University of Central Florida	2
University of Chicago		3
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado Boulder	3
University of Connecticut	2	3
University of Dallas	2	3
University of Dayton		2
University of Delaware	2	4
University of Denver		3
University of Florida	2
University of Georgia	2	3
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Houston		2
University of Illinois at Chicago		2
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	2	4
University of Iowa	2
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky	2
University of Louisville	2	3
University of Maine		2
University of Mary Washington	3	4
University of Maryland, Baltimore County	2
University of Maryland, College Park	2	2
University of Massachusetts Amherst	2
University of Memphis	2
University of Miami		4
University of Michigan	2	4
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	2
University of Minnesota, Morris	2
University of Mississippi	2	2
University of Missouri, Columbia	2
University of Missouri, Kansas City	2
University of Montana		2
University of Nebraska	2
University of Nevada - Las Vegas
University of Nevada - Reno
University of New Hampshire	2	3
University of New Mexico	2
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
University of North Carolina at Wilmington	2
University of North Texas	2
University of Notre Dame	2	4
University of Oklahoma		2
University of Oregon	2
University of Pennsylvania		4
University of Pittsburgh	2	3
University of Portland	2	3
University of Puget Sound		3
University of Redlands	2	3
University of Rhode Island	2
University of Richmond	2	4
University of Rochester		4
University of San Diego	3	4
University of San Francisco	2
University of Scranton	2
University of South Carolina	2
University of South Florida	2	2
University of Southern California	2	3
University of St Thomas (MN)		4
University of Tennessee - Knoxville		2
University of Tennessee - Chattanooga	2
University of Texas at Austin, The	2
University of Texas at Dallas, The	2	3
University of Texas at Arlington, The	2	3
University of the Pacific		2
University of Tulsa		2
University of Utah		2
University of Vermont	2
University of Virginia	2	4
University of Washington - Seattle	2	3
University of Wisconsin - Madison	3	4
University of Wyoming
Ursinus College	2	3
Vanderbilt University	2	3
Vassar College		4
Villanova University	3	4
Virginia Commonwealth University	2	3
Virginia Military Institute	3	4
Virginia Tech		3
Wabash College		2
Wake Forest University	2	4
Washington & Jefferson College	2	3
Washington & Lee University	3	4
Washington State University	2	2
Washington University in St. Louis	2	4
Wayne State University		2
Wellesley College		4
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Wesleyan University		4
West Chester University of Pennsylvania		2
West Virginia University	2
Western Washington University	2
Westmont College	2	3
Wheaton College (IL)	2	3
Wheaton College (MA)		4
Whitman College		2
Whittier College	2	3
Willamette University		4
Williams College		4
Wittenberg University	2	3
Wofford College	3
Worcester Polytechnic Institute		2
Xavier University		2
Yale University		4
Yeshiva University

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