Language Placement

Guidelines for Spanish Language Placement

Please read and use the following information as a guide for deciding your language placement at Pitt.

• Go to Section A if you have no Spanish language experience or took Spanish classes in high school.
• Go to Section B if you took the AP Spanish examination.
• Go to Section C if you consider yourself a heritage learner, are a transfer student, or if you took 4 years of Spanish in high school and have additional experience with the language (studying or living abroad in a Spanish-speaking country).

Section A

If you have no Spanish language experience or took Spanish classes in high school, use the chart below as a guide to decide your language course placement.  You do not need to take a placement interview.

Chart explained:

• Students with no Spanish language experience: You will enroll in Spanish 0101 if you have not taken any Spanish classes in the past and you are not a heritage learner.
• Students who have taken 2 or fewer years of Spanish in high school have two options:
  • Option 1: You will enroll in Spanish 0115 if you want to take a Spanish course in the fall or the spring immediately after you took a Spanish class in high school  (in other words, if you took your last Spanish course within the last academic year).
  • Option 2: You will enroll in Spanish 0101 if one or more academic years have passed since you took your last Spanish class in high school.
• Students who have taken 3 or 4 years of Spanish in high school, and have had no additional experience with the language have two options:
  • Option 1: You will enroll in Spanish 0103 if you want to take a Spanish course in the fall or the spring immediately after you took a Spanish class in high school (in other words, if you took your last Spanish course within the last academic year).
  • Option 2: You will enroll in Spanish 0115 if you want to take a Spanish course after one academic year has passed since you took your last Spanish class.

Note: Please note that if you place in Spanish 0101, 0115, or 0103, you do not need to take the placement interview or request a permission number.

Section B

If you took the Spanish AP examination in high school, use the following chart as a guide to decide your language course placement at Pitt and to learn the number of credits awarded. You do not need to take a placement interview.

AP Spanish: Placement and Credits

Chart explained:

• Students with AP Language & Culture Score 3 place in Spanish 0103. No credits awarded
• Students with AP Language & Culture Score 4 place in Spanish 0104. 3 credits awarded (Span 0103)
• Students with AP Language & Culture Score 5 place in Spanish 0120. 6 credits award (Span 103 and Span 0104)
• Students with AP Literature & Culture Score 4&5 place in Spanish 0125. 6 credits awarded (Span 0104 and Span 0120)

Section C

If you place under one of the conditions below, you should take the Spanish placement interview:

• You consider yourself a heritage learner (i.e., grew up in a household around Spanish speakers)*
• You are a transfer student
• You have taken 4 (four) years of Spanish in high school AND have additional experience with the language (studying or living abroad in a Spanish-speaking country).

* If you are not sure if you are a heritage learner, please contact Dolores Lima.

Instructions for the Spanish Placement Interview

Only transfer students, heritage learner students, and students with more than 4 years of Spanish in high school and with additional experience are required to take the placement interview. The interview consists of a 20-minute oral interview assessment with the placement coordinator.

Placement interviews are given via Zoom. Please be sure that you are in a quiet, enclosed space with a good computer connection when you join the Zoom call. 

Summer 2025 Placement Coordinator: Prof. Mari Félix Cubas (link name to email: mfc24@pitt.edu)

Summer Placement Interviews offered: May (22, 28, 29), June (3, 9, 17, 24, 30), July (1, 2, 8, 29, 30) and August (5, 6, 12, 13, 18, 19)

Instructions: Schedule an oral interview. At the end of the interview, a recommendation will be made on your course placement.

Guidelines for Portuguese Language Placement

• If you have not taken any Portuguese classes, please enroll in PORT0101.
• If you have had the equivalent of 4 years of Spanish, you can enroll in PORT1010 (Portuguese for Spanish Speakers*) or PORT0101.
• If you have taken Portuguese in high school or have taken any University class in Portuguese, please contact the Portuguese language coordinator to schedule an oral assessment.

* Port1010-Portuguese for Spanish Speakers is designed as an accelerated introductory course for native speakers of Spanish or English speakers with fluency in Spanish (3 years of college Spanish, native proficiency, the equivalent, or permission from the instructor).

Permission Numbers

Department Contacts

Spanish Language Program

Mari Félix Cubas
Assistant to the Spanish Language Program and Summer Placement Coordinator
1317-B Cathedral of Learning
mfc24@pitt.edu

Dolores Lima
Spanish Language Program Coordinator
1317-C Cathedral of Learning
dlima@pitt.edu​

Karen Goldman
Director of Undergraduate Studies and Adviser
kgoldman@pitt.edu

Portuguese Language Program

Ana Paula Carvalho
Portuguese Language Coordinator and Adviser
412-624-3747
1317-D Cathedral of Learning
apcst11@pitt.edu