Latin Placement
Advance Placement into Latin and Retroactive Credit in Latin
What if I've had Latin before?
Students who have taken Latin in high school may place into
intermediate or advanced Latin courses at
KU, depending on their background in the language. They may also
earn retroactive credit for that prior
work, by completing intermediate or advanced courses at KU. See
below for details.
How do I know which Latin course to take?
There is no Latin placement exam at KU. Instead, we prefer to
place incoming students in the appropriate
Latin courses through advising. Some general guidelines we follow
for course placement are listed below,
but if you're interested in jumping ahead in Latin, please contact
one of the following undergraduate
advisors to discuss the best Latin course for you:
Michael Shaw,
Undergraduate Advisor
Tara Welch, Undergraduate
Advisor
Pamela Gordon, Chair,
Department of Classics
General guidelines for course placement in Latin:
4 years of high school Latin OR AP exam 5 OR SAT-II above 690:
Latin 300 or above (advanced)
3 years of high school Latin OR AP exam 4 OR SAT-II from 640-690:
Latin 112/113 or
200/201 (intermediate)
2 years of high school Latin OR AP exam 3 OR SAT-II from 530-630:
Latin 112/113 or
Latin 108 (intermediate or
beginning)
It must be stressed, these are general guidelines. Please contact
an advisor to find out the best level for you.
Retroactive Credit in Latin
For those students who start out in intermediate or advanced
Latin, KU offers retroactive credit for the
work done before arriving at KU. Though it is not possible to test
entirely out of Latin at KU, using your
prior work in the language to satisfy the university's language
requirement, it IS possible meet the
requirement through a combination of Latin you take at KU and
retroactive credit you earn for Latin taken
elsewhere. Retroactive credit is assigned according to these
guidelines:
Two years of high school Latin:
A student who enrolls initially in
LAT 112 or 113 and
receives a grade of C will earn 3 hours of retroactive credit.
Three years of high school Latin:
A student who enrolls in
LAT 200 or 201 and receives a
grade of C or better will earn 6 hours of retroactive credit.
A student who enrolls in
LAT 112 or 113 and receives a
grade of C or better will earn 3 hours of retroactive credit.
Four years of high school Latin:
A student who enrolls in
LAT 300 or above and receives a
grade of C or better will earn 9 hours of retroactive credit.
A student who enrolls in
LAT 200 or
201 and receives
a grade of C or better will earn 6 hours of retroactive credit.
Note: To receive retroactive credit you must enroll in the
appropriate class. Students who enroll below the specified
level (e.g., if a student with 4 years of high school Latin
enrolls in
LAT 112 or
113), he or she receives no
retroactive credit. If, however, a student enrolls at a level
above the specified level (e.g., if a student with
three years of high school Latin enrolls in
Latin 300 or
above) and earns a C or better grade, he or she is
eligible for the full retroactive credit allowed for that course
(in the example just given, 9 hours).
