Placement Information
What Spanish course should I take?
You should take the UIC Language Placement Test in order to know your placement (i.e., the course that is best for you based on your knowledge of Spanish). The test will place you
(1) in one of the four basic/intermediate Spanish levels (i.e., Spanish 101-104) of the Spanish Basic Language Program,
(2) out of the basic/intermediate level,
or
(3) in the Spanish for Heritage Language Learners Program for students who have been exposed to Spanish at home or who have had extended exposure to Spanish in a Spanish speaking country.
Spanish Placement test: You can only take it through the Office of Testing Services. Check out their website, http://testing.uic.edu/placement-testing for information, or call (312) 996-0919, 24 hours a day.
After the first week of the semester, we cannot guarantee that you will have your results in time to register for that semester. You may have to wait until the following semester to register for a course.
After taking the Spanish Placement Test, you must enroll in the course indicated in the test results.
According to university policy, students will not receive credit for taking courses below the level at which they place. The Program Placement Guidelines are laid out in the following table:
NOTE: You may not take Spanish 101, 102, 103, or 104 if you are bilingual (native or heritage speaker)—that is, if you learned Spanish in a non-academic environment (i.e., at home, during residence abroad, etc.). The majority of students in the heritage program were born and raised in Chicago by parents who emigrated from Spanish-speaking countries. Others learned Spanish from their grandparents or during periods of living in Latin America. UIC has an excellent Spanish for Heritage Language Learners Program specifically tailored to heritage students.
As a heritage speaker you cannot receive credit for courses in the Spanish Basic Language sequence (Spanish 101, 102, 103, 104). All instructors are required to assess their students' linguistic background and to advise heritage speakers to take the placement exam or to meet with Prof. Ángela Betancourt (abetan3@uic.edu), Director of the Spanish for Heritage Language Learners Program.