While it is not a graduation requirement for the degree, International Studies strongly recommends students graduate with language proficiency skills and/or language awareness in a world language other than English. We have developed a few options to meet the various interests of our students.

For many students, this is easily achieved by existing bilingual skills or skills brought from high school or work before university. International students automatically meet this standard. Students who wish to document their language skills may take a proficiency test from BYU, as used by CLAS for graduation requirements, or take a placement test in the Modern Languages Department for French, Spanish, Arabic, or Chinese.

For students interested in studying languages at CU Denver as part of their degree, flexibility in how we can support language learning in your degree program varies according to language. For all languages, INTS will count 2000-level “intermediate” language courses toward the total 48 credits for the major.  

For French and Spanish, we can confidently advise that you can find classes to fit into your degree program and reach advanced proficiency before graduation.  

For students interested in studying Arabic and Chinese to reach 4th-semester proficiency at CU Denver, careful planning for language courses is important to make sure you enroll in the sequence over four semesters because students must begin with introductory courses in Fall semester. 

For students interested in languages not currently taught at CU Denver, we can help find programs outside the university. Japanese is available at MSUD, Korean is taught online by CU Boulder over the summer, American Sign Language is offered at CCD, and many world languages are available for students to take as intensive summer courses abroad, funded through the Critical Language Scholarships program. Students may also elect to study regional languages of semester-length study abroad programs.

For students who are interested in completing the International Studies degree but are not committed to reaching proficiency in a second language, we have options that can help students understand the role of language in society, and the culture regions associated with specific language groups. Students are encouraged to take courses in English from the Modern Language departments including LING 3100 Language in Society, FREN 3200 French and the Francophone World, and 1000 level courses such as SPAN 1000 Spanish and the Spanish Speaking World, or ARAB 1000 Arabic and the Arabic Speaking World, etc. Sometimes, students will take courses related to multiple languages. The courses at the 3000-level will count to the major's 10 international courses. Courses at the 1000-level are sometimes counted toward the major but require a specific request and advanced approval from an INTS advisor. 

Click here​ for information on demonstrating proficiency in a language not offered by CU Denver.