Universities and Colleges that Accept ASL as Foreign Language

American Sign Language

American Sign Language, or ASL, is a distinct and fully developed language that has, among others, its own unique grammar. ASL is distinct from English or any other foreign language and distinct from other sign systems as well, both foreign-based and English based-based.

During the past few decades, several states passed legislation to identify and recognize ASL as a distinct foreign language which enabled colleges, universities, and high schools to accept and implement the language as it, therefore, fulfills all foreign language requirements for deaf and hard hearing students.

American Sign Language is a visual/gestural language that is distinct from English or any other foreign spoken language. ASL is also distinct from any other sign languages used in different countries, and the language is distinct from any other English language-based sign system used in America, e.g. English manually coded systems.

We don’t know the exact number of people that use ASL but the language is the most widely used language in the U.S. for one-on-one communication. ASL is used as a 1st or 2nd language by many Americans and estimates range from 200,000 to nearly a million individuals, including deaf native signers, children of deaf parents, or adult deaf signers that were taught ASL by other deaf individuals.

Take a look at this list of Universities that are accepting ASL as Foreign Language. You’ll be pleasantly surprised! And if you still have to complete your GED, check out this BestGEDClasses review.

  1. Abilene Christian University
  2. American University
  3. Antioch College (Ohio)
  4. Arizona State University
  5. Augsburg College (Minneapolis, MN)
  6. Baylor University
  7. Bethel College (Indiana)
  8. Brigham Young University
  9. Brown University
  10. Butler University (Indiana)
  11. Cabrillo College (California)
  12. California State University (Fresno)
  13. California State University (Hayward)
  14. California State University (Monterey Bay)
  15. California State University (Northridge)
  16. California State University (Sacramento)
  17. California State University (San Marcos)
  18. Catholic University
  19. Central Washington University
  20. Centralia College
  21. Clark University (Worcester, MA)
  22. Clemson University
  23. College of St. Catherine (MN)
  24. College of Southern Idaho
  25. College of Staten Island
  26. College of St. Rose (Albany, NY)
  27. Dallas Baptist University
  28. East Central Oklahoma State University
  29. Eastern Illinois University
  30. Eastern Washington University
  31. Elms College (Chicopee MA)
  32. The Evergreen College (Washington)
  33. Florida A & M University
  34. Florida Atlantic University
  35. Florida Atlantic University Honors College (Wilkes Honors College)
  36. Florida Gulf Coast University
  37. Florida International University
  38. Florida State University
  39. Fresno Pacific University
  40. Gardner-Webb University
  41. George Mason University
  42. Georgetown University
  43. Holy Cross College (Worcester, MA)
  44. Howard University
  45. Howard Payne University
  46. Illinois State University
  47. Indiana University
  48. Kent State University
  49. Lamar University
  50. Loyola University
  51. Lubbock Christian University
  52. MacMurray College (Jacksonville IL)
  53. Madonna University
  54. Mary Hardin Baylor University
  55. Maryville College
  56. Mass. Institute of Technology
  57. Michigan State University
  58. Neumann College (Aston, PA)
  59. New College of Florida
  60. New York University (School of Education)
  61. National Technical Institute for the Deaf (Rochester, NY)
  62. Northeastern University
  63. Ohio State University
  64. Oklahoma Baptist University
  65. Oklahoma State University
  66. Pacific Lutheran University
  67. Purdue University
  68. Radford University (Radford, VA)
  69. Russell Sage College (Troy, NY)
  70. Sacramento Community College
  71. San Antonio College
  72. San Diego State University
  73. Scripps College (Claremont, CA)
  74. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
  75. Southwest Texas State University
  76. Stanford University
  77. SUNY Brockport
  78. SUNY Buffalo
  79. SUNY Geneseo
  80. SUNY Oswego
  81. Stephen F. Austin University
  82. Tennessee Temple University
  83. Texas A & M University-Commerce
  84. Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi
  85. Texas Tech University
  86. Texas Wesleyan University
  87. Texas Woman’s University
  88. University of Akron
  89. University of Alaska (Fairbanks)
  90. University of Arizona
  91. University of Arkansas (Little Rock)
  92. University of Calif. at Berkeley (accepted for entrance, not exit, requirements)
  93. University of Calif. at San Diego
  94. University of Calif. at Davis
  95. University of Central Florida
  96. University of Chicago
  97. University of Cincinnati
  98. University of Colorado-Boulder
  99. University of Florida
  100. University of Georgia (Athens)
  101. University of Hawaii (Manoa)
  102. University of Iceland
  103. University of Iowa
  104. University of Kansas
  105. University of Louisville (KY)
  106. University of Maryland
  107. University of Massachusetts
  108. University of Maine at Machias
  109. University of Michigan
  110. University of Minnesota
  111. University of New Hampshire (Durham)
  112. University of New Hampshire (Manchester)
  113. University of New Mexico
  114. University of North Carolina (Charlotte)
  115. University of North Carolina (Greensboro)
  116. University of North Carolina (Wilmington)
  117. University of North Florida
  118. University of North Texas (Denton)
  119. University of Northern Iowa
  120. University of Pennsylvania
  121. University of Pittsburgh
  122. University of Rochester
  123. University of South Florida
  124. University of Southern Florida
  125. University of Texas – Austin
  126. University of Texas-Pan American
  127. University of Texas-San Antonio
  128. University of Tulsa
  129. University of Utah
  130. University of Virginia
  131. University of Washington
  132. University of West Florida
  133. University of Wyoming
  134. Utah State University
  135. Utah Valley State College
  136. Vassar College
  137. Washington State University
  138. West Virginia University (School of Journalism majors)
  139. Western Oregon University
  140. Western Washington University
  141. William Woods University
  142. Wright State University (Ohio)
  143. Xavier University (Cincinnati)
  144. Xavier University (Louisiana)
  145. Yale University

About the list: The list began almost 15 years ago and was published by Sherman Wilcox,  University of New Mexico. We think it’s the most actual list so far. Students with a study debt burden should really check out this article about The Student Loan Consolidation Rule.