Process for Administering the OUS Admissions Foreign Language Requirement
Presented to the Academic Advising Council – 11/9/05 with approved updates
OUS requirement at end of this document, copied from
http://www.ous.edu/enroll/lang02.pdf
1. OSU is committed to admitting students who do not meet the language requirement but are
otherwise fully qualified. OSU is a Land Grant school, which means that we serve the entire
state including those high schools that do not offer foreign language courses.
2. Improvements to the OSU application will significantly reduce incorrectly coded
deficiencies, especially for transfer students.
 Section 19, Transfer Courses Required, explicitly asks the applicant to state if the
requirement has been met and, if so, how.
 Admissions requires documentation to clear the requirement.
3. Notification to matriculated students who have not met the requirement - coded DFL
(Deficient Foreign Language) in Banner.
 Admissions will send an email (ONID) after week 4 of the student’s first OSU term.
 Registrar will send an email (ONID) prior to all subsequent terms.
 DFL status will be included on:
o Web for Advisor
o Degree progress report
o Degree audit report
o Graduation audit
o In Student Codes attribute in the Term object in Data Warehouse – Contains DFL
4. Advising and enforcement are separate. College advising has the responsibility to advise
students with DFL into an academic plan to remove the deficiency.
5. The following statement will appear in the Academic Regulations immediately after AR 25,
Institutional Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees. Foreign language is an OUS
requirement; not an OSU requirement. Thus, this is not a change to OSU’s Academic
Regulations but is being inserted to clearly state the requirement.
*Additional Degree Requirement
As required by the State Board of Higher Education new freshmen and transfer students to any
Oregon University System institution who graduated from high school in 1997 and after must
meet the foreign language requirement for admission. At OSU, students not meeting that
requirement are permitted to matriculate but must complete the foreign language requirement in
order to be awarded an OSU degree. Students deficient in foreign language are notified of this
deficiency at the time of admission and will be periodically reminded of this throughout their
tenure at OSU. Degree progress reports and graduation audits will also reflect this deficiency.
Satisfaction of this requirement requires the successful completion of two terms of the same
foreign language with a C- or better. Completion of this requirement may be done at Oregon
State University or any other accredited college or university. For more detailed information,
refer to “Graduation, Degrees, Grades” under Registration Information in the On-Line Schedule
6. Clearing the DFL
 The Registrar will clear the DFL when a student has completed:
o Two terms (111 and 112) of a foreign language at OSU
o Completion of a 112 foreign language course at OSU – requires placement
 Admissions will clear the DFL when the requirement has been satisfied by any of the
following:
o Two years of high school foreign language – bring high school transcript to
Admissions
o Two terms of college level foreign language at one or more institutions
o Placement in a 113 or higher foreign language course at OSU – as determined by the
Foreign Language department. Note: The Foreign Language department has
placement tests for French, German and Spanish. The department will assist with
testing for other languages and students with language fluency.
o Completion of grades 1-7 at a school in which all courses are taught in a language
other than English. (Documentation is required.)
 Documented disability (see Required Course Substitutions below).
o Successful completion (C- or better) of two culture courses with prior approval by the
college head advisor.
o Head Advisor will notify Admissions for clearing DFL.
7. LBCC will be offering first year language courses at OSU. This is the strategy to provide
sufficient capacity and scheduling flexibility. This option will be made clear to students on
the OSU Schedule of Classes.
OREGON UNIVERSITY SYSTEM (OUS) STATE BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Second Language Admission Requirement
What is the requirement?
The admission requirement is defined by the completion of an acceptable second language,
including American Sign Language (ASL), through coursework in high school or college or by
the demonstration of knowledge of and/or proficiency in a second language. If admitted by
exception, two quarters or semesters of a college-level second language will be required prior to
degree completion to make up the admission deficiency.
When did the requirement first take effect?
Beginning with admission of all new undergraduates to Fall Term 1997.
Who must meet the requirement?
The requirement applies to all admitted freshman and transfer students graduating from high
school in 1997 and thereafter. New freshman and transfer students who graduated from high
school or completed a high school equivalency program prior to 1997 are exempted from
meeting the requirement.
Can exceptions be made to meeting the requirement?
Yes, students without two years of a second language can be admitted by exception. However,
students admitted by exception must make up the admission deficiency prior to degree
completion. If the student makes up the deficiency by taking a second language at the OUS
campus of enrollment, an additional fee may be assessed. All exceptions to the second
language requirement will be decided on a case-by-case basis as deemed appropriate by the
admitting institution.
How is the requirement to be met?
Students may meet the requirement by passing (C- or better) two years of the same second
language in high school or two quarters or semesters of a college-level language or by
demonstrating knowledge of and/or proficiency in a second language through an approved
assessment. The requirement may also be met through demonstrating proficiency in American
Sign Language (ASL).
Oregon University System/Office of Academic Affairs Updated August 2002
1
Options for Meeting the Second Language Admission Requirement
High School and College Credit Options
1. Two years of the same high school-level second language, or
2. C- or higher in the third year of high school-level second language, or
3. Two quarters or semesters of a college-level second language with a grade average of C- or
better.
Proficiency-Based Assessment Options
1. PASS Second Language Proficiency Assessment (Benchmark IV on COFLT Oral
Assessment), or
2. Demonstrated proficiency in American Sign Language (ASL) (Benchmark III), or
3. ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview, or
4. Satisfactory performance (grade of pass at 101 and 102 course level) on a Brigham Young
Foreign Language Assessment, or
5. Score of 530 or higher (500 if taken prior to May 1995) on a SAT II Foreign Language Test,
or
6. Score of 2 or higher on an Advanced Placement Foreign Language Test, or
7. Score of 4 or higher on an International Baccalaureate Higher Level Foreign Language
Exam, or
8. Score of 40 or higher on a CLEP Foreign Language Exam, or
9. Satisfactory performance on a college second language departmental challenge exam.
Oregon University System/Office of Academic
Affairs Updated August 2002
2
Services for Students with Disabilities
Required Course Substitutions
A specific disability can interfere with a student's successful completion of a course. To
substitute a course, appropriate documentation is required from a qualified professional who
addresses the functional impact of the disability on the educational environment. Below is an
outline of the process to be used by a student to substitute a required course because of a
documented disability.
* The student contacts the Head Advisor of their academic college. The Head Advisor will
inform the student of the appropriate process within the academic college for obtaining
approval to substitute a required course. When the basis for a required course substitution
is because of a documented disability, the student will be referred to the Services for
Students with Disabilities Office.
* The student contacts the Students with Disabilities Office. To substitute a course,
documentation approval must be obtained through the Services for Students with
Disabilities Office. The Director of Services for Students with Disabilities will contact
the Head Advisor of the student's academic college to address questions or concerns
regarding accommodations for students with disabilities in terms of course substitutions.
* The student follows the regular petitioning/approval process within the academic college. For
Baccalaureate Core Course substitutions, the Head Advisor of the student's academic
college must approve the course substitution. For other required course substitutions, the
appropriate department and college approvals must be obtained.
* If the course substitution is denied, the Head Advisor informs the Director of Services for
Students with Disabilities. The student is informed of the appeal processes. Appeals to
this decision are referred to: 1) the Dean of the College and then to the Provost's Office,
and 2) the Office of Affirmative Action.
Endorsed: Academic Advising Council 1/13/99
Approved: Undergraduate Education Council 2/9/99