Every major at Iowa requires the study of a foreign language. Majors in business, engineering, nursing, pharmacy, clinical laboratory science, radiation science, and nuclear medicine technology need two years of high school study of the same foreign language. All other majors require four years of high school study of the same foreign language. If you haven't satisfied this requirement through high school course work, you will need to satisfy it by taking college courses.

Take a foreign language placement test (FLPT) if you:

• haven't completed the foreign language requirement for your intended major
• are unsure of your major
• want to continue studying the foreign language you studied in high school

The test results will help you and your advisor determine the best level for your first enrollment in a language course.

Placement factors considered (in addition to your FLPT score) include how long you have studied the language; grades earned; experience abroad or with native speakers; and length of time since the language was studied.

The most requested FLPTs offered by the University are in French, German, and Spanish, but we offer testing in American Sign Language, Chinese, Greek (ancient), Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Swahili, and just about any other language, too.

Online French, German, and Spanish tests
The tests in French, German, and Spanish may be accessed online through your Admissions Profile on ISIS. Plan to complete online tests at least 14 days before Orientation.

The tests are multiple choice and cover vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension. These are adaptive tests, which means that question difficulty will vary depending on how you responded to previous questions. You may not use books, notes, or any other materials or resources. The test will take 20-25 minutes.

Tests in other languages
Tests in Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Latin, and Russian are not offered during our one-day Orientation programs. Students who need to take a placement test in one of these languages will still be able to schedule language courses during Orientation, but will need to arrange to take this placement test when they return to campus in August by contacting the Evaluation and Examination Service.

When you have the results of this placement test, you should consult your academic advisor to ensure you are enrolled in the appropriate foreign language course.