UGA offers, through Office of Accessibility & Testing, standardized testing for Spanish, French, German, Hebrew, and Italian. These tests: 

• assess a student’s current knowledge
• determine the correct level course in which the student should begin
• may award exemption credit based on that level

For more information on standardized placement tests, visit the Office of Accessibility & Testing

• For Placement: Not all departments have a formal placement exam.  In these cases, evaluators will do their best to place students in the correct language class.  This is not a formal assessment, and may be determined by an individual who does not teach the language. 
  
  • A faculty member, based on a conversation with student about the student’s experience with the language, will estimate at which level course a student can start. 
  • The placement results are estimates and can only determine the course level at which a student may begin; they don’t award credit and cannot satisfy the Franklin College Foreign Language requirement. 
  • Students who, based on placement, enroll in a recommended course and find it too advanced may switch to a lower-level course. 
• For Proficiency: Departments assess language proficiency by administering a formal evaluation conducted by a UGA faculty member who teaches the language. Students who demonstrate proficiency at the third-semester level or higher satisfy the Franklin College Foreign Language requirement. 
  
  • The faculty member must confirm the student reads, writes, speaks, and understands the spoken language at a third-semester level or higher 

The evaluating faculty member formally submits the proficiency determination to the appropriate graduation certification officer. 

Students who are proficient in a foreign language that is not currently taught at UGA, and whose language proficiency therefore cannot be evaluated, may appeal to the Academic Standards Committee to waive the requirement. If granted, this waiver carries no credit and does not satisfy any portion of the student’s core curriculum (Areas I-VI) or Major Requirements.

For more information on the Academic Standards Committee Academic Standards Committee | Office of Academic Advising

For general questions about this process, please contact Franklin College Office of Student Academic Services (OSAS) fcas-academic-svcs@uga.edu

Students in Franklin College who receive a foreign language accommodation through the Office of Accessibility & Testing (A&T) may fulfill this requirement by completing approved non-foreign language courses instead.

• Students who receive this accommodation must substitute courses from an approved list of courses
• Students must select 3-4 courses (or fewer if the student has already completed some foreign language courses), according to the requirement of the student’s major. 
• These courses may not be used to satisfy other Franklin College requirements, with the exception of the multicultural requirement. 
• Substitution courses may be used to satisfy other requirements for the student’s degree.

Once A&T has determined that a foreign language substitution accommodation is appropriate:

1. A&T will send Franklin College Office of Student Academic Services (OSAS) a letter requesting accommodations. 
2. OSAS will process the request and notify the student via the student’s UGA email address. 
3. Included in the email will be a Foreign Language Substitution Course form. With input from their advisor, the student must select from approved substitution courses.
4. The student must either bring the form to the Graduation Certification Office in 301 Brooks Hall or email it to askGCO@uga.edu for final approval. 
5. The foreign language requirement is marked as fulfilled upon successful completion of the selected substitution courses. 

For more information on accommodations, visit the Office of Accessibility & Testing

International students may be able to waive the Franklin College Foreign Language requirement if the student…

• is not a US citizen
• holds current citizenship in a country where the primary language is not English, and the student’s native language is not English

Students who meet the above criteria may complete the Foreign Language Waiver form. This waiver carries no credit and does not satisfy any portion of the student’s core curriculum or major.

Dual citizens may demonstrate proficiency per the guidelines listed in the sections above.

For general questions about this process, please contact Franklin College Office of Student Academic Services (OSAS) fcas-academic-svcs@uga.edu