Language Requirement
All Stanford students are required to complete one year of college-level study, or the equivalent, in a foreign language. Students may fulfill the language requirement in any one of the following ways:
- Complete three quarters of a first-year language course sequence (12–15 units total) at Stanford, or the equivalent at another postsecondary institution, subject to current University transfer credit policies. Courses may be taken Credit/No Credit to fulfill the language requirement.
- Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement (AP) exam in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin (Literature or Vergil), or Spanish Language.
- Achieve a satisfactory score on the SAT II Subject Test, prior to college matriculation, in one of the following languages listed onlne.
- Score a 5 or higher on a higher level IB exam in a language listed in the Registrar’s IBO chart.
- Take a language placement test at Stanford that either places you out of the requirement or diagnoses you as needing one, two, or three additional quarters of college-level study. In the latter case, the requirement can be fulfilled by completing the required number of additional courses either at Stanford or elsewhere.
All official AP, SAT II, and IB scores must be sent to the Office of the University Registrar.
