Language Placement & Credit

Portuguese credits

If you have prior experience with Portuguese and feel you should be placed higher than P100 as your first course, you must meet with the Portuguese Director, Professor Luciana Namorato, to have your correct course placement determined. Here is a summary of the special credits you can get for Portuguese courses, based on placement and course completion:

  • Short Track - If you completed P135 and then skip to P250, you have earned special credit for P200.
  • If you complete P250 or a higher course with a C or better, you have earned P200 special credit.
  • If you complete P311, P317 or any higher-level Portuguese course with a C or better, you have earned special credit for P200 and P250.
  • If you complete P200 and skip to P311 or higher (completing the course with a C or better), you have earned special credit for P250.

Portuguese students can claim these special credits by filling out a form in GA2160. The department advisor will verify the information and send it to the recorder for processing.

Spanish credits

Special credit can be awarded for up to two semesters of second-year study (the third and fourth semesters). To earn special credit, students must complete a validating course on the IUB campus at the level into which the student placed (or higher) with a grade of C or better, and apply for the special credit to be posted retroactively. If a student earns a grade of C- or below in the validating course, s/he will not receive special credit. The validating course must be the first course in that language taken by the student at IUB and this course may only be completed once. The following is an explanation of how special credit from S200 and above are assigned:

  • If you test into S250 and complete this course with a C or better, you can claim special credit for S200.
  • If you test into S280 (S275) and complete it with a C or better, you can claim special credit for S200 and S250.
  • If you test into a S300-level course and complete it with a C or better, you can claim special credit for S200 and S250. Students who place into S300-level must replace S280 credit with an additional S300/400-level course. Special credit is not granted for S280.

Important notes

Students cannot receive special credit for S280 (or S275). Students will not receive Indiana University Bloomington special credit if they have transfer credits for a similar beginning Spanish or Portuguese course from another college. Also, it is the policy of the College that students whose native language is not English may not earn credit for courses at the 200-level in their native language. In most cases, these students are exempted from the foreign language requirement. However, residents of Puerto Rico are not subject to this policy and are eligible for Spanish language credit at any level. If you are a native speaker of Spanish or Portuguese and are interested in completing a major or minor in either of these languages, you must speak to the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the Director of the Portuguese Program to determine what course you should start with.

If you have already qualified for special Spanish language course credits as outlined above, you can click here to claim your Spanish credit online. After completing the form, click the Submit button. It takes 4-6 weeks for processing and when complete, the earned credit will appear on your Degree Progress Report.