Special credit

EALC Policy on Special Credit

Special credit:
Students can earn a maximum of two semesters of special credit for foreign language. In order to earn special credit in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, students must take a validating course which must be their first IUB course in that language. A transfer course may not be used as a validating course. To determine which validating course to take, student must take the online placement test at   http://foreignlanguageplacement.indiana.edu for Chinese and Japanese, and https://korprf.sitehost.iu.edu/ for Korean.

• Placement into C/J/K 101-201: no special credit.
• Placement into C/J/K 202: students must successfully complete the course they are placed into with a grade of “C” or higher and apply for the special credit to be posted retroactively. By placing into and successfully completing C/J/K 202, students are eligible for 4 hours of special credit in C/J/K 201
• Placement into C/J/K 301 or higher: student must successfully complete the course they are placed into with a grade of “C” or higher and apply for the special credit to be posted retroactively. By placing into and successfully completing C/J/K 301 or higher, students are eligible for 8 hours of special credit in C/J/K 201-202.
• After completing the validating course with a grade of C or better, students can apply for the special credit to be posted retroactively. Special Credit application form is available from the EALC office or online.

Please Note:

• Students with native language fluency (i.e., students who learned the target foreign language in ways other than formal schooling/instruction) are not eligible to earn special credit in that language.
  • If an International Student is proficient in a language other than their native language, test into a level higher than C/J/K 201, they are eligible for special credit.
• This credit applies both to graduation credit and toward majors and minors.
• Students can earn special credit in multiple East Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) as long as they meet the other requirements listed above to earn special credit.
• AP and IB credit are NOT related to special credit. Students who have taken either the AP or the IB exam should check with the Department regarding which exam has precedence in terms of placement in language classes.
• Special credits are reported to the recorder's office as soon as results are available. However, it may take up to 2 months for these to appear on the student AAR Report and Transcript.
• Special Credit and proficiency in a language do not appear in the "test" section of the AAR Report and Transcript but rather as Undistributed EALC Transfer Credit C/J/K (101/102/201/202) under the “other credits” section right below the “test” section. If special credits were issued, this will be indicated with 4.0.
• Please be aware that in some cases, due to the restrictions on special credit listed above, students with Undistributed EALC Transfer Credit will not be eligible for special credit. In this case, 0.0 will be indicated next to the special credit in the “other credits” section of the student transcript. However, proficiency requirements for your degree may still be fulfilled, and you should see your academic advisor.
• Graduate students are not eligible for special credit.
• EALC language course credits, except for C333, C433, J333, and J433, are not given to language courses taken outside of IU, including overseas. Students who need to prove their language proficiency for purposes of satisfying degree requirements must do so through EALC’s proficiency tests.

Your placement test results will be sent directly to advisors. For the test results and specific advising questions regarding how your special credits affect your academic career, please contact your academic program advisor.