Language Reqs for University Bound Students

This following summarizes the important information regarding languages and the language requirements at Arizona's universities. You will see that the excel spreadsheet chart does not include information on being a language major. If you wish to major in Spanish, for example, you would not be concerned with meeting the 4th semester proficiency requirement, as you would be taking many upper-division courses in Spanish.

How do I use this chart?

On this chart, you will find a list of the university majors at NAU, ASU, and UA that require 2nd, 3rd, or 4th semester-proficiency in a foreign language. Please note that the information may have changed and you should contact an advisor at your transfer university.

What is language proficiency?

The term proficiency refers to a person’s skill level in a language. A student must pass a college-level course with a grade of "C" or better to have achieved proficiency at that course level.

Why do the requirements vary from one university to another?

These requirements vary by major and by university because each university department independently makes its decision regarding language requirements.

For example, the Mathematics department at NAU decided to not have a Foreign Language requirement for their majors. ASU's Math department determined that students completing both the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Math and the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Math would need 4th semester proficiency. UA's Math department decided that students pursuing a BA in Math would need to have a 4th semester proficiency, but those students pursuing the BS would need to have only a 2nd semester proficiency level.

(Generally speaking, the BS degree at UA would then have other requirements in Math or a related field that the BA degree would not.)

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What about a student who has taken a language in high school or who has knowledge of a language learned outside of an academic environment?

According to the state organization that advises on language transfer issues (the AZ Languages Articulation Task Force) a student can show proficiency in any one of these ways:

1. taking the courses
2. taking the YC placement exam for Spanish and then registering for and successfully completing the recommended course (see the French, German, Italian, or American Sign Language departments for information). For example, a student's placement exam scores place the student into SPA 201. She takes the course and receives a grade of "B." That student has met 3rd semester proficiency because she successfully completed the 3rd semester course.
3. taking the CLEP exam, a nationally-designed exam that measures proficiency in Spanish, French, or German. YC is a CLEP test center. Contact Testing Services on the Prescott Campus at (928) 776-2200, Bldg. 1, Room 225.
4. completing a high school or college degree in a foreign country where a language other than English is the official or native language.

Why begin your language courses at Yavapai College?

1. Learning a language is fun and practical.
2. You can use the skills you gain at your workplace or in your social group.
3. Many jobs give you a higher salary if you are proficient in a language; some fields beg for students who are proficient in Spanish (e.g., nursing, education, business, paralegal, criminal justice).
4. Learning a language increases your brainpower.
5. The faculty at YC have lots of experience and receive very high evaluations.
6. The courses are a pre-requisite to each other; thus you cannot register for SPA 102 unless you've either taken SPA 101 or have placed into that course.

Thus, if you wait to take your language courses at the university and need to achieve 4th semester proficiency (i.e., your major requires 4th semester proficiency), you will need to take language courses for the full 2 years at the university. They are all 4-credit courses. If you plan to take 15 credit hours per semester at the university as most students do, only 11 credit hours can be used for courses in your major and minor because 4 of the 15 are towards meeting the language requirement EACH semester. As you work on getting your general education requirements at YC, work on your language requirement too!

If you choose to take courses to meet the language proficiency requirement, you'll take 101 (first semester), 102 (second semester), 201 (third semester), and 202 (fourth semester) or any portion thereof. (A student may place into 102 and bypass 101 altogether.) Note that the language requirement is only met by taking courses in the SAME language. Further note that the conversational-track courses (i.e., 131, 132, 231, 232) do not meet the language requirement.

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