Foreign Language Challenge Exam FAQs

Placement Exams (FLPE) are available in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish and never award transcript credits.

Challege Exams can be taken in many non-FLPE languages to satisfy the LANG requirement.

Challenge exams can be taken in some languages for transcript credits.

The Placement Exam (FLPE) is an online, remote-proctored, self-scheduled exam.

The Challenge Exam is offered in a variety of modalities, depending on the language.  Learn more about the language you are intersted in here.

You would take a Challenge Exam for any of three reasons:

• You want to meet the LANG requirement in a language in which a Foreign Language Placement Exam (FLPE) exam is NOT offered.
• You want to be placed into the appropriate level of a class for a language in which a Foreign Language Placement Exam (FLPE) exam is NOT offered (e.g. KOR, RUS, SLN, etc.)
• You believe you have the level to meet the requirements of a foreign language course and want to earn transcript credits and meet SBCs without taking the course itself.

To determine eligibility, you must carefully review the guidelines in the undergraduate bulletin. 

All matriculated students are eligible to take a Challenge Exam to satisfy LANG.

Challenge Exam content varies by language. 

See the individual language page for details of exam content. 

Visit the web page for the language you are interested in to read the registration instructions, which vary by language.

No, you must pay for the number of credit hours that are assigned to the course you are seeking credit for. 

If you do not pass a Challenge Exam, nothing is reported to the registrar and therefore there will be no official indication on your transcript that you failed the exam.

The grading option for the Challenge Exam is Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U). S grades appear on your transcript. U grades do not appear on your transcript.

No, Challenge Exams do not impact GPA.

Yes, you can currently satisy the SBCs that are assigned to the course you are challenging?  For example, if you pass CHI 311 you get 3 credits and satisfy 

No, Challenge Exam credit does not count toward full-time status or academic standing.

Challenge Exam credit may be used to fulfill upper division credit for foreign language courses at the 300-level and higher.

No, Challenge Exams cannot be taken more than once for the same course or language.

If you took a Regents exam before Fall 2011, a score of 85 or higher meets LANG.  If you took a Regents exam during or after Fall 2011, it is not equal to statewide Regents exams and therefore does not exempt students from meeting LANG. This is because NY State eliminated statewide foreign language exams in 2011 and the foreign language exams that are still offered are locally developed by districts/schools.

No, Stony Brook does not recognize The Seal of Biliteracy.

The University does not guarantee proctors, and therefore Challenge Exams, for every language.

Before coming to Stony Brook, students may demonstrate proficiency in any of the following ways:

• A third-year high school Regents examination score of 85 or higher prior to Fall 2011;
• A score of 530 or higher on the SAT II in a foreign language;
• A score of 3 or higher on a foreign language or literature AP exam;
• If students have at least two years of formal language study at a secondary school or university where the primary language of instruction is other than English, then transcripts from the institution may be submitted to a student's academic advisor to demonstrate foreign language proficiency.

If you have not met proficiency in any of the above ways, or via an FLPE, you can meet LANG through language courses. 

The exam that allows a student to simply meet SBC: LANG - a profiency-only exam - costs $50.  A Challenge Exam for transcript credits costs $77 per credit.  E.g. SPN 112 (4 credits – LANG) would cost $308, CHI 311 (3 credits – HFA+, LANG) would cost $231.