Yale to offer Tagalog language course in Fall 2025

Yale will be offering a course on the Tagalog language starting next fall, following months of student advocacy from Tagalog @ Yale, an initiative within the university’s Filipinx club, Kasama.

Previously, students could only study the language through the Directed Independent Language Study program, which did not offer course credit or professional instruction. The new course, made possible by collaboration with faculty and the Yale College Council, comes in response to growing student interest, including a petition with over 380 signatures. The appointed lector will be teaching six courses annually and work with other instructors to further develop Southeast Asian studies.

Advocates hope this course is just the beginning of broader Southeast Asian studies at Yale, with a push for more Filipino languages like Ilokano, as well as additional Filipino studies courses. This development comes after Harvard introduced its first-ever Tagalog language course in its nearly 400-year history for the 2023-2024 academic year.

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