German language programs at colleges and
universities are usualy open to all students who meet general admissions requirements.
Most German departments offer departmental majors and minors in German, some offer
teaching majors and minors. While it is possible to complete university language
programs in as few as five or six semesters, it is strongly recommended to begin
your German study as a freshman or at least as early as possible. By doing so,
you might be able to combine it with a semester or two of study abroad at a university
in a German speaking country. Most colleges and universities sponsor an array
of foreign study programs in many different countries in which numerous students
participate each year.
Normally, two or three years of high school foreign language experience equals one year of college study. If you have already studied German in high school, depending on the university to which you apply, you may be awarded up to 14 or more credit hours (4 or more semesters of foreign language study) through advanced placement (AP) examination. However, this credit is usually not available to native speakers who have completed high school in their respective countries. For majors and minors in commonly taught languages (some times excluding minors in Chinese and Japanese), only courses taken above the university first-year language level (GER 101 & GER 102) apply toward major/minor credit-hour requirements.
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