Language Requirement Waiver

The Dartmouth College Language requirement is described in sub-section III.3. of this catalog section entitled “Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts.” Under certain circumstances, the Language requirement may be waived for a student who has a substantiated disability-related need for a waiver. Normally, such a waiver will not be granted in the absence of (1) a verified disability, (2) sufficient information about the petitioner’s disability-related need for a waiver confirmed by Student Accessibility Services (SAS), and (3) a recommendation supporting a waiver from SAS.  Students who wish to inquire about a disability-related waiver of the Language requirement should contact the Student Accessibility Services office.

Petitions are submitted to the campus Foreign Language Waiver Committee and will be considered only from students with documented disabilities who have not yet completed the language requirement.  The Committee generally meets once per term (i.e., four times per year) to consider petitions, and students are notified about the Committee’s decision soon afterward.

Students who have been granted a Language waiver:

Once the Foreign Language Waiver Committee has granted a Language waiver to a student, the following occurs:

1. The Language Waiver Committee specifies, which, if any, alternative language course the student will need to complete to fulfill the language requirement. If the committee does not specify an alternative course the student is relieved from the Language Requirement.
2. All grades for elementary non-English language courses will not be incorporated into the student’s cumulative grade point average. This provision is retroactive, so there may be effects on a student’s existing cumulative grade point average. Students’ transcripts will designate those grades and note that they are not incorporated into the grade point average, but the transcript will not contain direct information about the reason.
3. Students granted a waiver will be permitted to use the Non-Recording Option in elementary language courses. All the regulations governing use of that option will apply except that students who have received a language waiver are allowed a total of five (5) uses of the Non-Recording Option, two of which can be applied only to introductory courses in the same language. If the grade matches or surpasses a student’s selection, it will appear on the transcript; any grade of NR will count as one of the five uses of the option allowed, and any grade of E will appear on the transcript. However, no grade assigned in the course will be incorporated into the student’s grade point average.

Contact Student Accessibility Services for more information.