Students pursuing the A.A. General Track or any B.A. program are expected to be proficient in Wheelock’s Latin or an equivalent curriculum when they begin their first semester at Luther Classical College. A summer “bridge” course will be available for students who are not already at that level. LCC will administer a Latin proficiency test to all incoming students in order to place them in the proper level of Latin courses. The applicant may additionally provide a National Latin Exam score.

Latin is encouraged, but not required, for students applying for the A.A. Trade Partnership Track Program.

Students seeking an online Latin preparatory course for LCC are highly encouraged to consider Wittenberg Academy.

Additional resources for Wheelock’s Latin include:

• The Official Wheelock’s Latin Program Website
• Drshirley.org’s Wheelock’s Latin Links
• Magister Smith’s Latin Page

Wheelock’s Latin is a common textbook for first-year college Latin courses today, often spanning two semesters. LCC’s Latin 131 and 132 (summer Latin intensive, 8 college credits total) uses Wheelock. Wheelock emphasizes classical authors, including many interesting “sententiae” (one-sentence moral lessons or philosophical insights, somewhat analogous to a verse in the Book of Proverbs).

Although Wheelock is a very popular curriculum among classical schools and homeschools, many students use the Henle curriculum instead. The Henle curriculum has four levels spanning freshman through senior year. The Henle Latin series consists of five books: one book each for Levels 1 through 4, plus a grammar text that is used throughout those four levels. Translation samples in Level 1 include Julius Caesar, the Vulgate Bible, and Latin texts that summarize major events in the history of Western Civilization, up to modern times. Level 2 focuses upon Caesar’s Gallic Wars. A student who completes both Henle 1 and Henle 2, together with the sections of Henle Grammar that are cross-referenced in those two levels, will achieve roughly the same level of proficiency as a student who completes Wheelock’s Latin.

Many other Latin curricula also are suitable substitutes for Wheelock, so long the student masters all noun declensions, verb conjugations, and the fundamentals of grammar (ablative of means, dative of possession, subject in the accusative with the infinitive, subjunctive purpose clauses, etc.).

To find out if your curriculum is suitable to meet these requirements, please contact the Academic Dean by submitting an Admissions Inquiry on our Contact page.

LCC’s Latin Placement Exam will be administered online. Applicants will receive login credentials and be instructed to complete the exam at a scheduled time (generally in April, August, or November). The exam will assess the applicant’s ability to understand core vocabulary used within the grammatical constructions covered by Wheelock’s Latin. Other curricula also may be suitable as preparation. Regardless of curricula, applicants will be expected to be proficient in all five noun declensions and all four verb conjugation (or “five,” counting Third Conjugation I-Stems). Examples of grammatical concepts include the ablative of means, the infinitive with the subject in the accusative, the use of the subjunctive mood in purpose clauses, the formation of conditionals, comparisons between passive perfect and future active participles, and the uses of gerunds and gerundives.