Guidelines for General Education Language and Culture Petitions

Students who grew up in a multilingual environment and/or have extensive experience with a non-English language and culture may be able to meet the Language and Culture General Education Requirement through testing, transcripts, a Petition of Exception (POE), or a combination thereof.

Speakers of Spanish, French, or German should take the relevant CLEP exam and have the results reported to OU’s Registrar. Students who have previously taken a different standardized test scored on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) scale should follow the procedures below.

For speakers of other languages, a POE with supporting documentation should be submitted at least two semesters prior to graduation to ensure timely evaluation and allow the student to make adjustments to their schedule if necessary. Once the committee has the POE and appropriate documentation, it will review and finalize a decision within eight weeks.

• The preferred documentation is a standardized test scored on the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) scale.
• Students who attended school abroad in a non-English language through the seventh-grade level or higher may submit transcripts instead of a test.
• Include the following documentation with the POE:
  • Proof of their test scores or transcripts
  • A short explanation of their experience with the language and culture

Suggested Tests:

• When no CLEP test is available, take the Avant STAMP 4S exam, currently available for languages including Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
• For other languages not tested by the CLEP or Avant STAMP 4S exams, contact the General Education coordinator ([email protected]).

For additional guidance on the Language and Culture Petition of Exception process, please contact the General Education Program Coordinator ([email protected]).