<p>The International Relations MA programs have a foreign language requirement to graduate. I understand that it will vary from school to school, but in general how is proficiency determined and how stringent is the requirement?</p>
<p>I think that most require you to take some type of validation exam but a few others will accept about 2 years of undergraduate foreign language credit. Some (SAIS comes to mind) have a specific set of languages, others will accept any language. </p>
<p>I think that you usually just have to pass the test before you finish the degree, so if you're a little rusty in whatever language you took in college, you would be able to take a class or two to refresh yourself and take the exam after the first year or so. However, I think that any decent program will eventually require you to prove proficiency in a foreign language.</p>
<p>Most of the top programs require you to have at least 2 years of undergrad language. As long as you can show similar ability or the coursework on a transcript, you'll meet the requirement.</p>