I am thinking about taking a language at my alma mater, since I went local, and it is good for my job and for grad school. If I score lower than my undergrad GPA, will it mess with it
It sounds like you already graduated, so why not take the class(es) as pass/fail if you’re worried about it? Depending on your field, a language will definitely be useful/sometimes required in grad school. Some schools have you show proficiency by way of taking (and passing) a test of some sort, and others use transcript credits to prove competency (I think they usually look for several semesters of taking a language, though, so unless you’re in this for the long haul, I don’t know if taking a couple language courses will get you out of anything).
You may need to contact your school to find out. One of my undergraduate institutions would continue to calculate my GPAs together, but they weren’t my degree-granting institution. Another institution I attended (the degree-granting one) does not. So if I took additional classes there my undergraduate GPA would remain in tact, but I would have another calculated GPA (not sure what they call it or how it looks on the transcript, as I have not taken classes there since graduating). Pass/fail is another option. Or you could look at free online courses and save yourself the money. You would just need to show language proficiency in a way other than your transcripts.
Good ideas from both of you