Foreign Language Exams
The Foreign Language Placement Exam (FLPE) is available in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.
The FLPE may be used to:
- determine the appropriate language course for registration, and/or
- satisfy Stony Brook's SBC: LANG requirement.
You do not need to take the FLPE if you have had no prior formal study of the language or are not a heritage speaker.
Students who take the FLPE will see a $44.25 charge added to their student account in the month that follows the month in which they took the FLPE; i.e., if you take the exam in September the charge will be in your student account during the month of October.
Challenge Exams may be used to:
- place into a language course in languages for which an FLPE is not offered.
- satisfy Stony Brook's SBC: LANG requirement.
- challenge, where available, a specific language course for transcript credit.
Challenge Exam fees are:
- $50 for LANG only.
- $77 per credit for course challenges.
| Feature | FLPE | Challenge Exam |
| Available for | Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish | Eligible languages |
| Satisfy LANG | Yes | Yes |
| Course placement | Yes | Sometimes |
| Transcript credit | No | Yes (curricular languages only) |
- Both the FLPE and the Challenge Exam are for students with prior knowledge of a language. Do not take a language exam if you have no prior study or exposure to the language.
- Challenge Exams in non-curricular languages do not award transcript credit.
- If you are taking a Challenge Exam to satisfy LANG only, Guideline #8 does not apply.