Effective Date
Responsible Office
Responsible Contact Person
Policy Statement
- OUS institutions will require second language proficiency for students seeking admission to its colleges and universities for the academic year 1997-98. All students who are entering directly from high school will be required to meet the proficiency requirement. This policy will pertain to all campuses except Oregon Health Sciences University.
- Students who graduated from high school prior to 1997-98 and students who have been out of high school for a period of eight or more years at the time of admission may apply for an exemption of the second language requirement. In such cases, students will be required to meet an OUS graduation requirement, which will be a requirement of satisfactory attainment of the proficiency standard (corresponding to completion of one year of college foreign language).
- All students entering from community colleges or other colleges and universities will be required to meet the proficiency requirement of a second language.
- Students seeking admission from non-English speaking countries will be required to meet an English proficiency requirement using TOEFL scores and other appropriate measures.
- Proficiency standards will be set for each language taught in an Oregon high school using the ACTFL (American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language) Guidelines. American Sign Language will also be acceptable as a language, with standards to be set in consultation with appropriate national associations. Proficiency standards will be set to account for variation in difficulty of these foreign languages.
- Student proficiency may be established by ACTFL testing that is completed by an ACTFL-certified K-12, community college faculty member, or the higher education foreign language department. An ODE/OUS-developed test may be acceptable in future years.
- In general, two Carnegie Units (two years of the same high school foreign language) may be used to meet the proficiency level for an interim period, until the second language requirements are fully established and implemented within the CIM and CAM under development by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) in response to House Bill 3565.
- OUS institutions will accept certification of proficiency at the required level established by the CIM at any stage in a student's development, even if such proficiency is established in the elementary or middle school grades. However, since a student's understanding of the foreign culture is likely to be different and greater in later years of high school, it is recommended that proficiency at the level of the CAM be established.
- Students may be admitted to OUS institutions under a special exception basis if their high school is unable to offer a two-year sequence of any foreign language. In such cases, students entering an OUS institution will be required to meet a graduation requirement of satisfactory attainment of the proficiency standard (corresponding to completion of one year of college foreign language).
- Introductory college foreign language, beginning in academic year 1997-98, will be considered remedial instruction for high school and transfer students who meet the OUS admissions requirement using Carnegie Units but who cannot place in an OUS second year foreign language course. Students will be required to enroll in first-year foreign language via continuing education enrollment (self-support course), paying additional fees for this course. First-year language courses in a language other than the one studied in high school (or used to meet the admissions requirement) will not be considered remedial.
Cross Reference to Related Policies
Revision History
01 July 2014 - Became a UO policy by operation of law (former OUS Policy 7).
26 February 1993 - Adopted by the SBHE
Original Source
OUS Board Policy