Foreign language
KU students can earn retroactive credit in French, German, Latin, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, for other languages check with the department. If you studied a foreign language in high school and want to continue to study the same language, you have several options for receiving advanced placement and/or credit. Besides advanced placement credit for certain advanced placement exam scores, most KU language departments offer retroactive credit if you begin your language studies in a specific advanced course and receive a grade of C- or better. You may receive both advanced placement and retroactive credit, but if the advanced placement credit is the same as the retroactive credit, the advanced placement credit will be canceled. More information »
Complete List of Equivalencies
| Years of study | Initial enrollment | Retroactive credit |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Third Semester | 3 hrs. |
| 3 | Third Semester | 3 hrs. |
| 3 | Fourth Semester | 6 hrs. |
| 4 | Fourth semester | 6 hrs. |
| 4 | Fifth semester | 9 hrs. |
Years of study: The number of years of high school courses in a foreign language.
Initial enrollment: The level of course you will be allowed to enroll in.
Retroactive credit: The credit you will be awarded, in addition to the course credit, for completing advanced study in a foreign language. The initial university-level course must be taken at KU and you must earn a C- or better.
More about Retroactive Credit
For a bachelor of arts degree in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and most other schools within the university that require foreign language study, you are required to show proficiency in a language other than English. If you believe that you are proficient in a language, you may take the department's proficiency examination. If you pass, you are not required to complete any further course work in that area. Students who pass the proficiency exam have usually completed four or more years of study of that language.
