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 2021-22 Common Data Set (CDS) forms.

Table updated September 2022

InstitutionForeign Language units (Required)Foreign Language units (Recommended)
Adelphi University2
Agnes Scott College22
Alfred University
Allegheny College2
American University23
Amherst College3
Appalachian State University2
Arizona State University2
Auburn University1
Austin College23
Babson College4
Bard College44
Barnard College3
Bates College24
Baylor University2
Belmont University22
Beloit College2
Bennington College3
Bentley University33
Berea College2
Binghamton University3
Boston College4
Boston University24
Bowdoin College4
Bradley University2
Brandeis University4
Brigham Young University-Provo2
Brown University34
Bryant University22
Bryn Mawr College4
Bucknell University24
Butler University2
Cal Poly, Pomona2
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo24
California Institute of Technology3
California State University, Fresno2
California State University, Fullerton22
California State University, Long Beach22
Carleton College3
Carnegie Mellon University22
Case Western Reserve University23
Centre College24
Chapman University24
Claremont McKenna College33
Clark University2
Clarkson University
Clemson University23
Coastal Carolina University2
Colby College3
Colgate University34
College of Charleston3
College of the Holy Cross4
College of William and Mary4
Colorado College
Colorado School of Mines12
Colorado State University12
Columbia University34
Connecticut College
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art4
Cornell University
Creighton University23
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College22
CUNY Brooklyn College3
CUNY City College33
CUNY Hunter College2
CUNY Lehman College22
Dartmouth College4
Davidson College24
Denison University4
DePaul University2
DePauw University2
Dickinson College23
Drew University22
Drexel University1
Duke University4
Duquesne University2
Earlham College22
East Carolina University22
Eckerd College2
Elon University23
Emerson College33
Emory University4
Fairfield University24
Florida Atlantic University2
Florida Gulf Coast University2
Florida Institute of Technology2
Florida International University2
Florida Southern College2
Florida State University24
Fordham University24
Franklin and Marshall College24
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering2
Furman University23
George Mason University23
George Washington University24
Georgetown University24
Georgia College2
Georgia Institute of Technology2
Georgia State University22
Gettysburg College34
Gonzaga University23
Goucher College24
Grinnell College3
Gustavus Adolphus College23
Hamilton College33
Hampshire College34
Hanover College24
Harvard University4
Harvey Mudd College2
Haverford College33
Hendrix College22
High Point University23
Hobart William Smith Colleges23
Hofstra University23
Howard University22
Illinois Institute of Technology2
Illinois Wesleyan University3
Indiana University Bloomington2
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
Iowa State University13
Ithaca College23
James Madison University33
Johns Hopkins University4
Juniata College22
Kalamazoo College34
Kansas State University
Kenyon College34
Lafayette College22
Lake Forest College24
Lawrence University2
Lehigh University22
Lewis & Clark College2
Linfield College-McMinnville Campus4
Louisiana State University2
Loyola Marymount University3
Loyola University Chicago22
Loyola University Maryland34
Macalester College3
Manhattan College23
Marist College23
Marquette University2
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology2
Miami University2
Michigan State University22
Michigan Technological University2
Middlebury College4
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Mississippi State University
Morehouse College2
Mount Holyoke College34
Muhlenberg College24
New College of Florida24
New Jersey Institute of Technology2
New York Institute of Technology
New York University34
North Carolina State University22
Northeastern University24
Northern Arizona University2
Northwestern University22
Oberlin College3
Occidental College3
Ohio State University23
Ohio University2
Ohio Wesleyan University23
Oklahoma State University
Oregon State University2
Pennsylvania State University - University Park23
Pepperdine University
Pitzer College33
Pomona College34
Princeton University4
Providence College34
Purdue University22
Quinnipiac University22
Ramapo College of New Jersey22
Reed College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhodes College2
Rice University2
Rochester Institute of Technology3
Rollins College23
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Rutgers University-New Brunswick22
Saint Johns University2
Saint Mary's College of California23
San Diego State University3
San Francisco State University22
San Jose State University2
Santa Clara University23
Sarah Lawrence College24
Scripps College3
Seattle University22
Seton Hall University2
Skidmore College4
Smith College3
Southern Methodist University23
Spelman College22
St John's University-New York2
St Lawrence University4
St Olaf College4
St. John's College (MD)24
St. John's College (NM)24
St. Mary's College of Maryland4
Stanford University3
State University of New York at New Paltz24
Stetson University2
Stevens Institute of Technology24
Stonehill College34
Stony Brook University3
SUNY at Albany13
SUNY at Fredonia33
SUNY at Purchase College3
SUNY College at Brockport1
SUNY College at Geneseo4
SUNY College at Oswego24
SUNY College at Plattsburgh3
SUNY College at Potsdam3
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry3
SUNY Cortland34
SUNY Oneonta34
Susquehanna University2
Swarthmore College3
Syracuse University3
Temple University22
Texas A & M University-College Station22
Texas Christian University24
Texas Tech University22
The College of New Jersey22
The College of Wooster22
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville2
The University of Texas at Austin2
The University of Texas at Dallas23
The University of the South24
Trinity College3
Trinity University22
Tufts University34
Tulane University3
Union College23
United States Air Force Academy2
United States Coast Guard Academy
United States Merchant Marine Academy2
United States Military Academy2
United States Naval Academy2
University at Buffalo3
University of Alabama12
University of Alabama at Birmingham3
University of Arizona22
University of Arkansas2
University of California, Berkeley23
University of California, Davis23
University of California, Irvine23
University of California, Los Angeles23
University of California, Merced23
University of California, Riverside23
University of California, San Diego23
University of California, Santa Barbara23
University of California, Santa Cruz23
University of Central Florida2
University of Chicago3
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado Boulder3
University of Connecticut23
University of Delaware24
University of Denver2
University of Florida2
University of Georgia23
University of Houston2
University of Illinois at Chicago22
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign24
University of Iowa24
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky2
University of Louisville23
University of Maine2
University of Mary Washington34
University of Maryland, Baltimore County2
University of Maryland, College Park22
University of Massachusetts Amherst2
University of Massachusetts Boston2
University of Miami4
University of Michigan24
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities22
University of Mississippi22
University of Missouri-Columbia2
University of Nebraska-Lincoln2
University of Nevada-Las Vegas
University of Nevada-Reno
University of New Hampshire23
University of New Mexico2
University of North Carolina at Asheville2
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill2
University of North Carolina at Charlotte23
University of North Carolina at Greensboro22
University of North Carolina Wilmington2
University of Notre Dame24
University of Oklahoma2
University of Oregon2
University of Pennsylvania4
University of Pittsburgh23
University of Portland23
University of Puget Sound3
University of Redlands23
University of Rhode Island1
University of Richmond24
University of Rochester
University of San Diego34
University of San Francisco2
University of South Carolina2
University of South Florida22
University of Southern California23
University of Tulsa2
University of Utah2
University of Vermont2
University of Virginia-Main Campus24
University of Washington23
University of Wisconsin-Madison34
Ursinus College23
Vanderbilt University22
Vassar College4
Villanova University34
Virginia Commonwealth University23
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University3
Wake Forest University24
Washington and Lee University34
Washington College24
Washington State University22
Washington University in St. Louis24
Wellesley College4
Wesleyan University4
West Virginia University2
Wheaton College (IL)23
Wheaton College (MA)4
Whitman College2
Willamette University4
Williams College4
Worcester Polytechnic Institute2
Yale University
Yeshiva University2

Colleges Worth Your Money

2024 Edition

A Guide to What America's Top Schools Can Do for You


Buy on Amazon Now
College Transitions Dataverse Book Image