Bookmark and Share

Department of

Languages and Literatures

Competency Exams: General Information

The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences provides students of the University of San Diego the opportunity to satisfy their language general education requirement by examination.

General Information

  • There is a fee of $25 to take a regularly scheduled exam. The fee for an off-schedule exam is $35.
  • The fee is non-refundable unless you notify us in advance of the day of the exam that you will not sit for it. If you do not show up to take the exam, you will not receive a refund. (See "Exam Dates" on the left.)
  • The exam measures reading, writing and listening skills.
  • Each section is timed, therefore, latecomers will not be admitted and the fee will not be refunded.
  • The exam is the equivalent of a 2-hour, 3rd semester (201) final.
  • No practice tests or study guides are provided.
  • Students who fail the exam will be advised as to what class they may enroll in for the following semester. Naturally this applies only in the case of the languages we teach.

You must bring the following when you appear to be tested:

  • A photo ID
  • Your fee receipt (disregard if you paid by mail)
  • Your own No. 2 sharpened pencils and erasers

Registration Procedures

  • Step 1: Pay the fee at the Cashier's Office in the Hughes Administration Center (campus map).
  • Step 2a: For on-schedule exams: To complete the registration process, take your receipt (for $25) to Dr. Rubio-Fernaz (Founders 138-A) so that you can be added to the roster of examinees - this is the only way to guarantee that you will have a seat. The deadline for Step 2a is five business days prior to the date of the exam. Once the deadline has passed, Dr. Santiago Rubio-Fernaz will accept you only if there is space available.
  • Step 2b: Off-schedule exams: Take your receipt (for $35) to Dr. Rubio-Fernaz (Founders 138-A) so that you can arrange your exam time with him.

Languages not taught by USD

The department is able to offer exams in the languages listed below. We retain outside evaluators to correct them; the student will pay the evaluator (usually $20-$50). We do not allow the student to choose the evaluator.

Africaans

Gujarati

Serbian (Croatian, Yugoslav)

Armenian

Korean

Russian

Dutch

Lithuanian

Tagalog (Filipino)

Farsi (Persian)

Norwegian

Vietnamese

 

Students may be tested in additional languages if we can find an appropriate source to write an exam to our specifications. We will inform the student of the cost and collect the fee for writing the exam (which may be as high as $250) before entering into a contract with the provider. No refund will be given if the student decides not to take the exam. The evaluation fee will be collected at the time the exam is given, but will not be paid until the evaluator has returned the corrected exam to us.