Do you have to have high school language credits to go to college?

She needs to talk to her guidance counselor about the requirements. Most universities have pretty strict criteria for admissions, so she needs to find out now before her course schedule is set for her senior year.

some masters level programs… like arts require a second language for admission

I don’t know if it’s usually a strict requirement, but it definitely looks good to have more, and some colleges do require it. If I were her I wouldn’t limit my options in this way!

I would strongly recommend taking more than one. You can go to college with only one language credit and succeed, but it’s more of a question of if she’ll ever get there; if she’ll get in. Acceptance is pretty cutthroat lately, UCLA had something like 60,000 applicants this year and only let in 10,000, so every credit counts.

She could always pick up some credits at a community college, too.

In my area, you must have 2 foreign language credits just to graduate from high school. Many universities require even more than that. If she’s not interested in the usual courses, suggest she take American Sign Language. I’m pretty sure most places accept that.

Generally, it depends on the school you are applying to. When doing school research, make sure you look at what they require from their applicants. Honestly, though, it won’t do you harm if you study a foreign language and it isn’t required. More bonus points for you: you will be a more well-rounded applicant. Plus, learning a new language is fun. :)

Here is what Harvard suggests. It, as do most of the competitive colleges prefer one foreign language that you have studied in depth rather than, say, two years of two different languages.

“There is no single academic path we expect all students to follow, but the strongest applicants take the most rigorous secondary school curricula available to them.

An ideal four-year preparatory program includes four years of English, with extensive practice in writing; four years of math; four years of science: biology, chemistry, physics, and an advanced course in one of these subjects; three years of history, including American and European history; and four years of one foreign language.”

Depends entirely on the school. If the schools she’s looking at say they want 2 or 3, then she needs to take another class or two.

My area is like @augustlan.‘s You can’t even graduate high school here with only one foreign language credit, let alone get into college.

What college’s want and what they’ll take are different things. Yes, people with more language classes have an advantage. No, language classes are not a necessity. It’ll make things more difficult for the schools that can afford to be very picky, but it is not the end of the world. They do want you to take their language classes, after all.

When I went to high school, it was very difficult not to take language courses. There were really only two paths: (1) people who had learning disabilities didn’t take a language so that they could have time for in-school tutoring sessions, and (2) people on the “art track” could take all of the art and music classes and avoid languages.

Needless to say, both sets of students were able to get into college. The art students went to art schools mostly, but the learning disabled went all over the place. Plenty of schools are friendly to those with special needs these days—and decent schools, too (even if not always the name brand universities).

Generally, colleges just let you take a language if you haven’t already at the undergraduate level. Some let you opt out if you took one in high school, or pick up where you left off. I don’t think language would be a big concern for admissions’ sake, but it might help to already know a second one.