New York State Seal of Biliteracy (NYSSB)

The New York State Seal of Biliteracy (NYSSB) recognizes students who have attained a high level of proficiency in English and a world language by high school graduation.

 The NYSSB is designed by the New York State Department of Education to align with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) “intermediate-high” or “intermediate-mid” proficiency level and the New York State Department of Education “Checkpoint C” level for Languages Other than English (LOTE) Standards.

 Students who self-identify and show documentation (notation of NYSSB on their high school diploma and/or transcript) will be awarded three language credits (LNG 199) for each language for which they earn the NYSSB.

 If the NYSSB is in one of the languages taught at the College of Staten Island, students are advised to take the Fast Track language placement exam to determine their proficiency level and placement in the sequence of language classes offered.

Upon the successful completion of the course the student was placed in, the LNG 199 credit will be updated by the Department of World Languages and Literatures to credit for the course one level below the course completed in the language studied. For example, if a student places in Spanish 213 (third-semester Spanish), and completes this course, the LNG 199 credit will be updated to credit the full four credits for Spanish 114 (second-semester Spanish).

 For students whose NYSSB is in a language not taught at CSI, students may take the ACTFL WPT (writing proficiency test) exam administered online by Language Testing International to determine their proficiency and the possible exemption for language study. The Department of World Languages can provide more information regarding this test if needed.

 AP exams are one of the assessment mechanisms for earning the NYSSB. Credit will be awarded for the NYSSB or the qualifying AP exam score, but not both, to avoid duplicating credit awards.  The CPL award will be whichever is most advantageous to the student’s degree path.