Foreign Language Requirement

What will the study of language do for you?

• Marketability: Enhance your job prospects and earning potential in a globalized economy where adaptability and collaboration are of paramount importance.  

• Communication: Develop your communication skills in both the foreign language and your own native language through daily interaction with peers and faculty. Employers consistently cite strong communication skills as the most sought-after quality in job candidates. 

• Study Skills: Improve your performance in other academic areas. Foreign language courses build critical study skills like time management, self-discipline, and team-work.   

• Cross-cultural Awareness: Develop sensitivity, tolerance, and mutual understanding of world cultures. Foreign language study strengthens your ability to negotiate cultural differences in an increasingly globalized world.

This is just a sampling of the reasons why you should study a language!

What is the language requirement at the University of Missouri-St. Louis?

Candidates for the B.A. degree are required to complete 13 credit hours or the equivalent in proficiency in one foreign language. 

Foreign language guidelines are as follows:

1. Students entering with no high school language units must enroll in Language 1001.

2. Students with the degree of proficiency equivalent to 13 hours of college-level work in French, Japanese, or Spanish may obtain exemption by passing the department's placement exam. 

3. Students whose native language is not English may fulfill the foreign language requirement by submitting an official transcript from a secondary school or university in their home country where instruction was conducted in that language. The department will verify proficiency for students who are speakers of a language taught in the department. Students who are proficient in languages not offered must provide appropriate documentation demonstrating language competency. If your native language is not English, or if you are proficient in another language, please complete the Language Waiver form to submit your documentation.

How do you fulfill the language requirement?

If you've never studied a language at the college level before, take 1001, 1002, and 2101 in one foreign language: ASL, French, Japanese, Spanish.

For special circumstances, please select the appropriate question below.