List updated January 17, 2017 Please Note (Disclaimer): Some people have asked about how information is obtained for this page, and thus whether it is exhaustive and accurate. I must point out three things about the list. First, I have not contacted these schools. The list began almost 10 years ago when I was in contact with colleagues who were able to supply reliable information. I collected this information and made it available on request. Later, I made the list available on the web. As more and more people read this list and provide new information, it has become ever more difficult to ensure the accuracy of the information. Increasingly, the data for the list comes from people -- students, faculty, or administrators -- at these schools who have contacted me and reported that the school accepts ASL as a foreign language. When I find an institution to be incorrectly listed, I immediately remove it from the list. If readers know or suspect that a listed school does not accept ASL, please let me know so that I can remove the school from this list.
Second, the type of acceptance can vary greatly from school to school. Some institutions have formal policies accepting ASL in fulfillment of the foreign language requirement. Others accept ASL only within certain colleges, divisions, or departments. Still others may accept ASL on an ad hoc basis for certain majors. I attempt to exclude schools from the list when I can determine that the "acceptance" is on an individual or ad hoc basis. I cannot guarantee that I always catch these cases, however.
Third, because this is an informal list, it is not exhaustive. There may be schools which accept ASL as a foreign language which are not listed. If readers know of schools accepting ASL in fulfillment of the undergraduate foreign language requirements which are not listed, please contact me. It is helpful if you include the email address for a contact person at the institution. It is even better if you ask an official at the institution to contact me directly.
California All 23 California State University campuses accept ASL in fulfillment of the foreign language graduation requirement
Kentucky In Kentucky any state college or university that offers ASL must accept it as a modern language credit. When a high school student takes it at the high school level it can satisfy their modern language entrance requirement for any state school.
Maryland The University System of Maryland (USM) now accepts ASL as a foreign language. This statewide policy will cause Maryland universities and local school boards to adopt similar policies concerning ASL instruction. Montgomery County has been the first to do so.
Washington Legislation mandates that ASL meets foreign language high school graduation and four-year admission requirements: “Pursuant to any foreign language requirement established by the state board of education or a local school district, or both, for purposes of high school graduation, students who receive instruction in American Sign Language shall be considered to have satisfied the state or local school district foreign language graduation requirement. Minimum admission standards will be established for four-year institutions, including a requirement that coursework in American Sign Language shall satisfy any foreign language requirement the board or the institution may establish as a general undergraduate admissions requirement.”
1.Abilene Christian University
2.American University
3.Antioch College (Ohio)
4.Arcadia University
5.Arizona State University
6.Augsburg College (Minneapolis, MN)
7.Augustana University
8.Baylor University
9.Bethel College (Indiana)
10.Boston University
11.Brandeis University
12.Brigham Young University
13.Brown University
14.Butler University (Indiana)
15.Cabrillo College (California)
16.California State University system: ***All 23 CSU campuses accept ASL in fulfillment of the foreign language graduation requirement***
17.Capital University (Columbus, OH)
18.Catholic University
19.Central Connecticut State University
20.Central Washington University
21.Centralia College
22.Clark University (Worcester, MA)
23.Clemson University
24.College of St. Catherine (MN)
25.College of Southern Idaho
26.College of Staten Island
27.College of St. Rose (Albany, NY)
28.Dallas Baptist University
29.East Central Oklahoma State University
30.Eastern Illinois University
31.Eastern Washington University
32.Elms College (Chicopee MA)
33.The Evergreen College (Washington)
34.Florida A & M University
35.Florida Atlantic University
36.Florida Atlantic University Honors College (Wilkes Honors College)
37.Florida Gulf Coast University
38.Florida International University
39.Florida State University
40.Fresno Pacific University
41.Gardner-Webb University
42.George Mason University
43.Georgetown University
44.Goshen College
45.Holy Cross College (Worcester, MA)
46.Howard University
47.Howard Payne University
48.Illinois State University
49.Indiana University
50.Kent State University
51.Lamar University
52.Linfield College
53.Loyola University
54.Lubbock Christian University
55.MacMurray College (Jacksonville IL)
56.Madonna University
57.Mary Hardin Baylor University
58.Maryville College
59.McDaniel College
60.Messiah College
61.Miami University (Oxford OH)
62.Michigan State University
63.Montclair State University
64.Neumann University (Aston, PA)
65.New College of Florida
66.New Mexico Highlands University
67.New York University (School of Education)
68.National Technical Institute for the Deaf (Rochester, NY)
69.Northeastern University
70.Northern Arizona University
71.Northern Illinois University
72.Ohio State University
73.Oklahoma State University
74.Pacific Lutheran University
75.Portland State University
76.Purdue University
77.Radford University (Radford, VA)
78.Russell Sage College (Troy, NY)
79.Sacramento Community College
80.San Antonio College
81.San Diego State University
82.Saint Francis University
83.Scripps College (Claremont, CA)
84.Southern Connecticut State University
85.Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
86.Southern Methodist University
87.Stanford University
88.SUNY Albany
89.SUNY Brockport
90.SUNY Buffalo
91.SUNY Empire State
92.SUNY Fredonia
93.SUNY Geneseo
94.SUNY Oneonta
95.SUNY Oswego
96.SUNY Plattsburgh
97.SUNY Stony Brook
98.Stephen F. Austin University
99.Tennessee Temple University
100.Texas A&M University - Central Texas
101.Texas A & M University - College Station
102.Texas A & M University - Commerce
103.Texas A & M University - Corpus Christi
104.Texas State University
105.Texas Tech University
106.Texas Wesleyan University
107.Texas Woman's University
108.Truman State University
109.Tufts University
110.University of Akron
111.University of Alaska (Fairbanks)
112.University of Arizona
113.University of Arkansas (Little Rock)
114.University of Buffalo
115.University of Calif. at Berkeley (accepted for entrance, not exit, requirements)
116.University of Calif. at San Diego
117.University of Calif. at Davis
118.University of California Los Angeles
119.University of Central Florida
120.University of Chicago
121.University of Cincinnati
122.University of Colorado-Boulder
123.University of Connecticut
124.University of Findlay (Ohio)
125.University of Florida
126.University of Georgia (Athens)
127.University of Hawaii (Manoa)
128.University of Iceland
129.University of Illinois-Chicago
130.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
131.University of Iowa
132.University of Kansas
133.University of Louisville (KY)
134.University of Maryland
135.University of Massachusetts
136.University of Maine at Machias
137.University of Michigan
138.University of Minnesota
139.University of Missouri (all campuses)
140.University of Nevada-Reno
141.University of New Hampshire (Durham)
142.University of New Hampshire (Manchester)
143.University of New Mexico
144.University of North Carolina (Asheville)
145.University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)
146.University of North Carolina (Charlotte)
147.University of North Carolina (Greensboro)
148.University of North Carolina (Wilmington)
149.University of North Florida
150.University of North Texas (Denton)
151.University of Northern Colorado
152.University of Northern Iowa
153.University of Oregon
154.University of Pennsylvania
155.University of Pittsburgh
156.University of Rochester
157.University of San Francisco
158.University of South Florida
159.University of Southern Florida
160.University of Tennessee
161.University of Texas - Austin
162.University of Texas - Pan American
163.University of Texas-San Antonio
164.University of Tulsa
165.University of Utah
166.University of Vermont
167.University of Virginia
168.University of Washington
169.University of West Florida
170.University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
171.University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
172.University of Wyoming
173.Utah State University
174.Utah Valley University
175.Vassar College
176.Virginia Tech
177.Washington State University
178.Weber State University
179.West Virginia University (School of Journalism majors)