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Undergraduate Studies

Placement & Special Credit

Getting Special Credits for Spanish and Portuguese Language Courses

Special credits in language are credits you can get for IUB courses below your current language level.  Special credits are of two types: credits based on the satisfactory completion of the course you place into; and credits based on high AP exam results.  See below for an explanation of each type of special credit and instructions for how to claim the credit if you qualify for it. Please note that the procedures for claiming special credit are different for Portuguese and Spanish.  Also, native speakers (except residents of Puerto Rico) may not claim special credits in their language (see “Important Notes” below).

1. Special Credits Based on Placement/Course Completion

A. 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 Darlene Sadlier, to have your correct course placement determined.  If you are placed into a Portuguese course above the level of P100 and subsequently complete that course with a grade of C- or better, you can then get special credits for courses below that level.  Portuguese students can claim these special credits by filling out a form in BH844.  The department advisor will verify the information and send it to the recorder for processing. 

Here is a summary of the special credits you can get for Portuguese courses, based on placement and course completion:

• If you complete P150 or P135 or any higher-level Portuguese course with a grade of C- or better, you can get P100 special credit.
• If you complete P100 and then skip to P200 (completing the course with a C- or better), you can get P150 special credit.
• If you complete P250 or a higher course with a C- or better, you can get P200 special credit.
• If you complete P311, P317 or any higher-level Portuguese course with a C- or better, you can get 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 can get special credit for P250.

B. Spanish

If you place into a level of Spanish at S200 or higher, you can get special credit for language courses below that level (with the exception of S275, as explained below).  Simply by placing into S200 or higher, you automatically receive special credit for S105; you do not need to do anything else to receive this S105 credit.  However, to get special credits above S105, you need to complete the IUB course you tested into with a grade of C- or higher and then actively claim the credits.  If you have qualified for these credits above S105, you can claim them by clicking on the link below.  The following is an explanation of how special credits from S200 and above are assigned based on placement and completed coursework:

• 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 S275 and complete it with a C- or better, you can claim special credit for S200 and S250.
• If you test into S310 and complete it with a C- or better, you can claim special credit for S200 and S250.  However, special credit is not granted for S275 (Introduction to Hispanic Culture), since the content of this course is not primarily devoted to language learning.  (Note to majors and minors: if you tested out of S275, you will need to take an additional course at the 300 or 400 level to replace it.)

Important notes: Students will not receive IUB 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 100- or 200-level in their native language.  In most cases, these students are exempted from the foreign language requirement.  However, residents of Puerto Rico are 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.

2. Advanced Placement (AP) Exam credits for Spanish

If you’ve taken the either the AP Spanish language exam or the AP Spanish literature exam, you may receive credits for Spanish courses at IUB if you scored between 3-5 on either exam.  Click here for a chart showing the current course equivalents granted by the College of Arts and Sciences for given AP scores in Spanish and other disciplines.  If your AP exam scores qualify you for IUB credit, the College Board will send them to the Office of Admissions (that is, if you designated IUB as a recipient on your answer sheet) and the credits will be registered on your Degree Progress Report automatically.