Placement & Proficiency Testing

Call Lara Wasner at 313-993-1191 to schedule a placement or proficiency test any time of year.

Placement tests

The University of Detroit Mercy provides the following foreign language tests: Arabic, Aramaic, Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish. Placement tests allow students to determine placement into the appropriate level of the target language. Students may gain a maximum of 9 credits for placing into - and successfully completing the language class they placed into - with a C or higher grade. Incoming freshmen schedule their language placement tests during SOAR, but those who miss SOAR testing dates can arrange for testing any time of year. All students can schedule a placement test any time during the academic year by calling Lara Wasner at 313-993-1191. Fees: No fee is required to take the placement test, since it is a place-into test (students must take the language class in the level they placed in order to receive academic credit).

Proficiency tests

Proficiency tests are offered in all languages named above. These tests allow students to demonstrate proficiency in a language at introductory, intermediate or advanced levels. Proficiency tests can be scheduled anytime during the academic year by calling Lara Wasner at 313-993-1191. Fees: Proficiency tests require a fee of $300.00, which must be paid to the department on or before the scheduled testing date. An oral evaluation must accompany the written test.

Regular reviews & revisions

The department regularly reviews and revises placement tests. The following tests were revised during the 2005-06 academic year: Chinese and Japanese. The following tests were revised during the 2006 academic year: Croatian, German, Polish and Latin. The following tests were revised during the 2007-08 academic year: Arabic, Aramaic, French, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Provisions for courses and tests not currently offered at UDM

Students must first check with UDM's language department to confirm the target language test or course is unavailable at UDM. Only if a test is not offered at UDM may a student schedule a test at another accredited institution. The student must then provide the following information to the department for consideration. UDM will consider the proficiency test letter a waiver of 3 credit hours needed to fulfill a language requirement at UDM.

A letter from accredited college or university – on that institution's letterhead – must be mailed to UDM's Language Department in a sealed envelope. All tests must be approved by that university's foreign language department. The letter must contain the following information:

• Name of student and date tested
• Target language(s) tested
• Name and contact information of foreign language program director
• Name of proctor (all tests must be proctored)
• Name of placement test (we accept university-based tests approved by the institute's foreign language department or standardized tests approved by ACTFL).
• Test score in all competency areas (reading, writing, listening, speaking)
• Number of credit hours obtained (UDM will accept an equivalent of 3 credit hours)