You cannot claim to value global connection while asking students to leave behind the languages they already know.
That tension sits at the heart of Northwestern College’s (NW) language and culture requirement. On paper, the policy is meaningful. Students must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language or complete an approved cultural immersion experience. In practice, this means reaching intermediate proficiency in Spanish, completing a lower-level sequence in an ancient language such as Hebrew, Greek or Latin, participating in a semester-long immersion experience abroad or having completed at least three years of a foreign language in high school with a grade of C or higher. The goal is clear. Students are meant to grow in cultural awareness, broaden their perspectives and better engage with the world. However, in practice, the requirement often falls short of that goal.
Most students arrive at NW having already started a language in high school. Spanish, French, German and Latin are the most commonly offered languages in United States high schools, and many students spend at least two years building a foundation. But high school schedules are rarely flexible enough to allow everyone to complete three full years. Graduation requirements, extracurriculars and limited course offerings often make that difficult.
Ideally, college would provide the opportunity to continue what students have already started. Students could build on their previous learning, deepen their understanding and reach the expected level of proficiency without losing that progress. At NW, that opportunity is not available for many students.
NW’s requirement can be fulfilled in three ways. Students can reach intermediate proficiency in Spanish, complete a lower-level sequence in an ancient language such as Hebrew, Greek or Latin or participate in a semester-long immersion experience abroad. While this appears flexible on paper, the practical options on campus remain limited, and the study abroad option is not financially accessible for many students.
NW primarily offers Spanish for proficiency and Hebrew, Greek or Latin as lower-level study. While these are important and meaningful languages with rich cultural significance, they represent only a small portion of the languages students bring with them. If a student studied French for two years in high school, that work does not carry forward here in a direct way. The same is true for German and other commonly taught languages. Instead of continuing forward, students are often asked to start over or shift into a different language track.
This is not just inconvenient. It works against the purpose of the requirement itself.
Language learning is cumulative. It involves vocabulary, grammar, context and connection to culture. A student continuing in French, for example, has the opportunity to engage more deeply with literature, history and culture. A student starting over in Spanish or shifting into a different language is forced to return to the basics. The policy effectively erases prior effort, leaving students feeling that their progress does not matter. It is no surprise that motivation often falters when students must abandon knowledge they have already worked hard to gain.
To its credit, NW does use placement guidelines based on prior Spanish study, allowing some students to enter higher levels if they have sufficient background. However, this flexibility only applies to Spanish and does not extend equally to other languages students may have studied.
A common counterargument is that students who struggle with this requirement simply do not care about learning another language. That misses the point entirely. Many students have already demonstrated interest and dedication through high school study. The frustration comes not from a lack of desire, but from being forced to reset their progress and start over. It becomes difficult to stay motivated when previous effort is not fully recognized.
There is also a broader impact on how resources are used. When many students must meet the same requirement through a small number of course offerings, those classes quickly fill. As a result, students who are genuinely interested in Spanish or Hebrew, Greek or Latin may find themselves competing for space with students who are only there to meet a requirement. This only dilutes the experience for both groups.
Please understand, this is not an argument against these languages. They are valuable and globally significant and deserve to be studied. However, they are no more important than any other languages students may have studied. Limiting most accessible pathways to just a few options unintentionally narrows the scope of cultural engagement the requirement is meant to encourage.
If NW’s goal is to promote diversity and global awareness, its language offerings and the ways students can fulfill the requirement should reflect that commitment more fully.
There are practical ways to address this. NW could allow more flexibility in transferring previously earned language credits, better accommodate prior study for placement in any language and expand awareness and access to the immersion option. Ultimately, the policy should reflect the purpose behind it.
Right now, the language requirement encourages students to engage with the wider world, but only if that world happens to fit into a very narrow framework. It values proficiency but ignores progress already made. A requirement intended to broaden students’ perspectives should not force them to start over.
