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Foreign language interpreter education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a foreign language interpreter. Foreign language interpreters usually study business, english, or linguistics. 61% of foreign language interpreters hold a bachelor's degree, and 16% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 170 real foreign language interpreter resumes to see exactly what foreign language interpreter education sections show.
The most common colleges for foreign language interpreters are the National University and the National University.
There are also many online foreign language interpreter courses to help get the education required to be a foreign language interpreter.
What education do you need to become a foreign language interpreter?
What degree do you need to be a foreign language interpreter?
- Bachelor's, 61%
- Associate, 16%
- Master's, 10%
- Diploma, 3%
- Other Degrees, 10%
What should I major in to become a foreign language interpreter?
- Business, 19%
- English, 17%
- Linguistics, 9%
- Psychology, 6%
- Other Majors, 49%
Most common colleges for foreign language interpreters
| Foreign language interpreter common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| National University | 8.70% |
| Brandeis University | 8.70% |
| Brigham Young University | 8.70% |
| Missouri State University | 4.35% |
| Centre College | 4.35% |
Best majors for foreign language interpreters
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business | 19.2% |
| 2 | English | 16.7% |
| 3 | Linguistics | 9.0% |
| 4 | Psychology | 6.4% |
| 5 | General Studies | 5.1% |
Best colleges for foreign language interpreters
The best colleges for foreign language interpreters are Harvard University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and Northwestern University.
A foreign language interpreter with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for foreign language interpreters. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become foreign language interpreters.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
2. University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$13,226
Enrollment
31,568
3. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
4. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$14,184
Enrollment
30,845
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
6. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
In-state tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
7. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-state tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
9. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
10. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$54,104
Enrollment
7,089
20 best online courses for foreign language interpreters
Advertising disclosure
1. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care
This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...
2. Health for All Through Primary Health Care
This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...
3. 2017 Great Decisions: Foreign Policy Association
Learn about leading foreign policy challenges confronting U.S. policy makers and the American public...
4. TEFL Essentials: Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Includes reusable TEFL teaching materials Suitable for CELTA preparation...
5. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course
The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...
6. Trauma Emergencies and Care
Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...
7. Providing Trauma-Informed Care
Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...
8. Data Science:Data Mining & Natural Language Processing in R
Harness the Power of Machine Learning in R for Data/Text Mining, & Natural Language Processing with Practical Examples...
9. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative
Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...
10. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children
Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...
11. Medical Terminology
Introduction to the meaning of various roots, terms and combining forms that are components of medical words...
12. Data Science for Healthcare Claims Data
Learn and practice how to transform raw healthcare claims data into valuable knowledge and actionable insights!...
13. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes
COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...
14. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale
Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...
15. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers
COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...
16. Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations
Have you ever needed health care and thought that there must be better ways to get or deliver health care? For example, have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way to get a diagnostic test or treatment at home? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to deliver health care? If you have, this course is for you. Course content includes an overview of health care delivery including healthcare consumerism, the patient's...
17. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care
In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...
18. Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff
Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...
19. Health Care IT: Challenges and Opportunities
A strong argument can be made that the health care field is one of the most information-intensive sectors in the U.S. economy and avoidance of the rapid advances in information technology is no longer an option. Consequently, the study of health care information technology and systems has become central to health care delivery effectiveness. This course covers the modern application of information technology that is critical to supporting the vision and operational knowledge of the health care...
20. Medical Emergencies: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation
In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) assess a basic medical patient 2) describe general pharmacologic principles and the skills associated with medication administration, 3) explain airway physiology, the assessment of the airway and available interventions for airway management, 4) identify, assess and formulate a plan to stabilize a patient with a...
Top 10 most affordable universities for foreign language interpreters
The most affordable schools for foreign language interpreters are University of Florida, hunter college of the city university of new york, and baruch college of the city university of new york.
If the best universities for foreign language interpreters are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for foreign language interpreters.
1. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
2. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
3. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
4. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
5. Lehman College of the City University of New York
Bronx, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,210
Cost of attendance
14,359
6. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Brooklyn, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,240
Cost of attendance
13,991
7. Queens College of the City University of New York
Queens, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,338
Cost of attendance
14,281
8. City College of New York of the City University of New York, The
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,140
Cost of attendance
14,430
9. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
10. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for foreign language interpreters
The hardest universities for foreign language interpreters to get into are Harvard University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and Northwestern University.
Some great schools for foreign language interpreters are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for foreign language interpreters based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Admissions rate
5%
SAT average
1,520
2. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
4. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
5. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
6. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
7. University of Chicago
Chicago, IL • Private
Admissions rate
7%
SAT average
1,520
8. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,517
9. Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,488
10. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,456
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for foreign language interpreters
The easiest schools for foreign language interpreters to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, wayland baptist university, and barry university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a foreign language interpreter without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for foreign language interpreters.
1. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
2. Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
1,003
3. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
4. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
5. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
6. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
7. Our Lady of the Lake University
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
1,002
8. Fresno Pacific University
Fresno, CA • Private
Admissions rate
85%
SAT average
1,053
9. Notre Dame College
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
994
10. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
Average foreign language interpreter salary by education level
| Foreign language interpreter education level | Foreign language interpreter salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $51,102 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $41,842 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $46,792 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $46,529 |
Foreign language interpreter education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025