Foreign Language Credit Exam Information

Advanced Placement Exam Form. We strongly encourage students to receive academic advising in the college before scheduling an exam. Students enrolled in the College of Business must first contact the Office of Business Student Success before scheduling a credit exam. 

Below are course and credit exam eligibility requirements for the first and second year of the foreign language sequences we offer (e.g. SPAN 1101, 1102, 2101, and 2102), except for Latin, Hebrew, and Greek. The Department of French Studies is responsible for French and Cajun French:

Eligibility Requirements

  • Incoming freshmen can take Spanish, German, and Latin credit exams at no cost until the last day to add/drop classes. They will be invited to take the credit exams during orientation. 
    • If assistance is needed to determine if a credit exam is necessary, the orientation team will assist. Our departmental staff does not provide academic advice.
    • Students who wish to take Spanish, German, and/or Latin credit exams outside of Welcome Week (orientation) should contact Testing & Evaluation Services directly to schedule an exam. A $15 ProctorU fee will apply. 
    • Arabic, Chinese, and Italian exams are given in our department. Students may contact us or Center for Freshmen Year to initiate the process. A $20 fee per class for which you earn credit will apply and exams will only be available during the fall and spring semesters.
  • Students may not take entry level courses or credit exams for their native languages.
    • Including international students and students who originated from countries where the official languages are the same as the credit exams they wish to take.
      • Students with a PR (Puerto Rico) state code are considered native speakers of Spanish and international students from mainland China are considered native speakers of Mandarin Chinese.
      • Students listed as United States citizens are not considered native speakers of our offered languages.
    • Exceptions may be given to the following students:
      • Students who are fluent or have a working knowledge of a language which is not considered the official language of their country of origin (e.g. students who took Spanish in Germany or raised in a US household that speaks the same language they wish to be assessed).
      • Students who were primarily instructed in other dialects of the language before college (e.g. Cantonese, Swiss German, etc.).
      • Students who attended high school in the United States regardless of their country of origin.
      • Exceptions may be subject to approval by the faculty advisor of the language (listed below). Additional documents may be requested by the department as proof of eligibility.
  • Students may not take courses or credit exams if they previously received credits for the same courses.
    • Students may not take SPAN 1152 (equivalent to SPAN 1101+1102) if they have already received credits for SPAN 1101 and/or 1102.
  • Students may only take a specific credit exam once.
    • Students who have previously taken a credit exam for SPAN 1101-2102 cannot retake the same exam.
  • Students will receive course credits according to the credit exam score.
  • Credit exam registrations are only valid the semester it is registered.  
  • Students who do not receive credit from the credit exam will receive an NC (no credit) notation on the transcript for the lowest course tested.
    • If a student takes the credit exam for SPAN 1101 and 1102 and does not receive any credit, the student will receive an NC (no credit) notation for SPAN 1101 on the transcript. If a student receives some credit from the exam (received SPAN 1101 credit and placed into SPAN 1102), the student will not receive the NC credit notation. 
  • For more information about the Spanish credit exam, please visit the Spanish Credit Exams webpage. 

Credit Exam Procedures

  1. Obtain the credit exam form. 
  2. Obtain the approved signatures indicated in the credit exam form.
  3. After all signatures are collected, contact the Office of the University Registrar at regservices@lsu.edu to be assessed the appropriate fee.
  4. Pay the fee through your myLSU account or contact the Office of Bursar Operations at bursar@lsu.edu.
  5. For Spanish, German, and Latin, contact the Office of Testing and Evaluation at otes@lsu.edu to schedule the exam.
  6. For Arabic, Chinese, and Italian, contact the department at worldlang@lsu.edu to schedule the exam.

For Spanish, German, and Latin

Credit exams for entry-level Spanish, German, and Latin are conducted at Testing & Evaluation Services, 51 Himes Hall. The cost of the German and Latin credit exam is $20, while the Spanish exam fee is $40. Scheduling credit exams can be done at https://www.lsu.edu/testing/placementcreditexam.php. For more information about the assessments, you may contact the faculty advisors:

For Arabic, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese

Credit exams for entry-level Arabic, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese are conducted at the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures. The cost of the credit exam is $20 per class for which credit is earned. If continuing and transfer students would like to take these exams, they may do so via remote proctoring through ProctorU by paying an additional $15.00. These exams are only offered during the fall and spring semesters. For additional questions or to request to take a credit exam, please email us at worldlang@lsu.edu. For more information about these exams contact:

Available Credit Exams

  • SPAN 1101, 1102, 2101, and 2102. There is no credit exam for SPAN 1152
  • CHIN 1101, 1102, 2001, and 2002
  • GERM 1101, 1102, 2101, and 2102
  • ITAL 1001, 1002, 2101, and 2102
  • LATN 1001, 2051, and 2053
  • ARAB 1101, 1102, 2101, and 2102

Updated 10/24/2024

 

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