Foreign Language Competency

For students entering Wharton prior to fall 2017

Students must demonstrate competency in a language other than English in order to graduate. Students who plan to continue with their high school language are urged to do so beginning in the fall semester of the first year. For more information on foreign language placement, please click here.

Students may satisfy the foreign language requirement in any of the following ways:

  • By receiving a required score on one of the AP or IB exams for which the college gives credit
  • By receiving a required score, normally 650 or better, on one of the approved SAT II foreign language tests
  • By completing the appropriate Cambridge A-Level Examination at a grade deemed satisfactory by the language group
  • Successful completion of a test given by a language department or by the Penn Language Center
  • Completion of the final course in a Penn foreign language competency sequence*

Please note the following:

  • Courses taken toward language competency may be applied to the Language, Arts, & Culture requirement or to Unrestricted or Non-Business Electives. They do not satisfy the Global Environment requirement.
  • American Sign Language does not fulfill Wharton’s foreign language requirement; however, ASL courses may count toward the Language, Arts & Culture requirement or to Unrestricted or Non-Business Electives.
  • Some study abroad programs require knowledge of a language beyond the minimum competency requirements. Consult with an academic advisor about language requirements for specific programs.
  • Wharton students are permitted to take language courses pass/fail, but students should be sure to review the pass/fail policy for certain restrictions.
  • It is each student’s responsibility to make sure that the Undergraduate Division has a record of the fulfillment of their language requirement.

Language Departments and Languages Taught at Penn

All African Languages
Penn Language Center
215.898.6039		 Afrikaans
Amharic
Igbo
Kiswahili
Malagasy		 Shona
Twi
Wolof
Yoruba
Zulu
Classical Studies
215.898.7425		 Greek (Classical) Latin
East Asian Languages & Civilizations
215.898.7466		 Chinese
Japanese		 Korean
Germanic Languages & Literatures
215.898.8608		 Dutch
German		 Swedish
Yiddish
Near East Languages & Civilizations
215.898.7467		 Akkadian
Arabic
Egyptian
Hebrew		 Persian
Sumerian
Turkish
Romance Languages
215.898.7429		 Catalan
French
Italian		 Portuguese
Spanish
SLAV Department Russian
Slavic and EEUR LANGUAGES
Penn Language Center
216.898.6039
 Czech
Hungarian
Polish		 Ukrainian
Serbo-Croatian
South Asia Studies
215.898.7475		 Hindi
Sanskrit		 Teluga
Urdu
Penn Language Center
215.898.6039		 Provides courses in less commonly taught languages and evaluates proficiency in these languages (for a complete list visit the PLC website):
Bengali
Gujarati
Panjabi
Pashto
Tamil
Kannada
Malayalam
Marathi
Greek (Modern)

* Most competency sequences consist of four semesters of language courses. Please refer to the respective language department’s website for competency sequences.