The Seal of Biliteracy as a recruitment tool in postsecondary language study

As state-level Seals of Biliteracy for high school graduates become more common, postsecondary language programs face questions about how to recognize this credential. While scholarship has examined the implementation of state Seals in secondary education, less attention has been paid to the role of postsecondary language programs in this new policy milieu. This study examined how receiving a Seal of Biliteracy might motivate students to study language(s) in college and the impact of awarding advanced placement and retroactive credit for the Seal. A survey of Seal of Biliteracy recipients (n = 61) in Nebraska and interviews with undergraduate students who received the award (n = 8) suggest that postsecondary language departments could leverage the Seal of Biliteracy to recruit students to language programs and likewise lend support to state implementation efforts. Findings point to the critical role academic credit policies play in making language study more attractive to Seal of Biliteracy recipients.