diff --git a/common/djangoapps/user_api/middleware.py b/common/djangoapps/user_api/middleware.py
index 77c885e125..97abe476cd 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/user_api/middleware.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/user_api/middleware.py
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 Middleware for UserPreferences
 """
 
-from django.utils.translation.trans_real import parse_accept_lang_header
-
 from user_api.models import UserPreference, LANGUAGE_KEY
 
 
@@ -17,11 +15,10 @@ class UserPreferenceMiddleware(object):
 
     def process_request(self, request):
         """
-        If a user's UserPreference contains a language preference,
-        stick that preference in the session.
+        If a user's UserPreference contains a language preference and there is
+        no language set on the session, use the user's preference.
         """
-
-        query = UserPreference.objects.filter(user=request.user, key=LANGUAGE_KEY)
-        if query.exists():
-            # there should only be one result for query
-            request.session['django_language'] = query[0].value
+        if 'django_language' not in request.session and request.user.is_authenticated():
+            user_pref = UserPreference.get_preference(request.user, LANGUAGE_KEY)
+            if user_pref:
+                request.session['django_language'] = user_pref
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/user_api/models.py b/common/djangoapps/user_api/models.py
index 3450c03aa3..91e0a77209 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/user_api/models.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/user_api/models.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.db import models
 
+LANGUAGE_KEY = 'pref-lang'
+
 
 class UserPreference(models.Model):
     """A user's preference, stored as generic text to be processed by client"""
@@ -10,3 +12,26 @@ class UserPreference(models.Model):
 
     class Meta:
         unique_together = ("user", "key")
+
+    @classmethod
+    def set_preference(cls, user, preference_key, preference_value):
+        """
+        Sets the user preference for a given key
+        """
+        user_pref, _ = cls.objects.get_or_create(user=user, key=preference_key)
+        user_pref.value = preference_value
+        user_pref.save()
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_preference(cls, user, preference_key):
+        """
+        Gets the user preference value for a given key
+
+        Returns None if there isn't a preference for the given key
+        """
+
+        try:
+            user_pref = cls.objects.get(user=user, key=preference_key)
+            return user_pref.value
+        except cls.DoesNotExist:
+            return None
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_middleware.py b/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_middleware.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..36f59363b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_middleware.py
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+from django.test import TestCase
+from django.test.client import RequestFactory
+from django.contrib.sessions.middleware import SessionMiddleware
+
+from user_api.middleware import UserPreferenceMiddleware
+from user_api.models import UserPreference, LANGUAGE_KEY
+from student.tests.factories import UserFactory
+
+
+class TestUserPreferenceMiddleware(TestCase):
+    """
+    Tests to make sure user preferences are getting properly set in the middleware
+    """
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.middleware = UserPreferenceMiddleware()
+        self.request_factory = RequestFactory()
+        self.session_middleware = SessionMiddleware()
+        self.user = UserFactory.create()
+        self.request = self.request_factory.get('/somewhere')
+        self.request.user = self.user
+        self.session_middleware.process_request(self.request)
+
+    def test_no_language_set_in_session_or_prefs(self):
+        # nothing set in the session or the prefs
+        self.middleware.process_request(self.request)
+        self.assertNotIn('django_language', self.request.session)
+
+    def test_language_in_user_prefs(self):
+        # language set in the user preferences and not the session
+        UserPreference.set_preference(self.user, LANGUAGE_KEY, 'eo')
+        self.middleware.process_request(self.request)
+        self.assertEquals(self.request.session['django_language'], 'eo')
+
+    def test_language_in_session(self):
+        # language set in both the user preferences and session,
+        # session should get precedence
+        self.request.session['django_language'] = 'en'
+        UserPreference.set_preference(self.user, LANGUAGE_KEY, 'eo')
+        self.middleware.process_request(self.request)
+
+        self.assertEquals(self.request.session['django_language'], 'en')
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_models.py b/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_models.py
index db1af152b7..6e3e8c21a4 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_models.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_models.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from django.db import IntegrityError
 from django.test import TestCase
 from student.tests.factories import UserFactory
 from user_api.tests.factories import UserPreferenceFactory
+from user_api.models import UserPreference
 
 
 class UserPreferenceModelTest(TestCase):
@@ -26,3 +27,18 @@ class UserPreferenceModelTest(TestCase):
             key="testkey3",
             value="\xe8\xbf\x99\xe6\x98\xaf\xe4\xb8\xad\xe5\x9b\xbd\xe6\x96\x87\xe5\xad\x97'"
         )
+
+    def test_get_set_preference(self):
+        user = UserFactory.create()
+        key = 'testkey'
+        value = 'testvalue'
+
+        # does a round trip
+        UserPreference.set_preference(user, key, value)
+        pref = UserPreference.get_preference(user, key)
+
+        self.assertEqual(pref, value)
+
+        # get preference for key that doesn't exist for user
+        pref = UserPreference.get_preference(user, 'testkey_none')
+        self.assertIsNone(pref)
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_views.py b/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_views.py
index 451b167050..fbbe86a0d0 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/user_api/tests/test_views.py
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 import base64
 
-from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.test import TestCase
 from django.test.utils import override_settings
+from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 import json
 import re
 from student.tests.factories import UserFactory
 from unittest import SkipTest
-from user_api.models import UserPreference
+from user_api.models import UserPreference, LANGUAGE_KEY
 from user_api.tests.factories import UserPreferenceFactory
 
 
@@ -17,21 +17,9 @@ USER_PREFERENCE_LIST_URI = "/user_api/v1/user_prefs/"
 
 
 @override_settings(EDX_API_KEY=TEST_API_KEY)
-class UserApiTestCase(TestCase):
-    def setUp(self):
-        super(UserApiTestCase, self).setUp()
-        self.users = [
-            UserFactory.create(
-                email="test{0}@test.org".format(i),
-                profile__name="Test {0}".format(i)
-            )
-            for i in range(5)
-        ]
-        self.prefs = [
-            UserPreferenceFactory.create(user=self.users[0], key="key0"),
-            UserPreferenceFactory.create(user=self.users[0], key="key1"),
-            UserPreferenceFactory.create(user=self.users[1], key="key0")
-        ]
+class ApiTestCase(TestCase):
+
+    LIST_URI = USER_LIST_URI
 
     def basic_auth(self, username, password):
         return {'HTTP_AUTHORIZATION': 'Basic ' + base64.b64encode('%s:%s' % (username, password))}
@@ -100,6 +88,32 @@ class UserApiTestCase(TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 405)
 
 
+class NoUserApiTestCase(ApiTestCase):
+    def test_get_list_empty(self):
+        result = self.get_json(self.LIST_URI)
+        self.assertEqual(result["count"], 0)
+        self.assertIsNone(result["next"])
+        self.assertIsNone(result["previous"])
+        self.assertEqual(result["results"], [])
+
+
+class UserApiTestCase(ApiTestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(UserApiTestCase, self).setUp()
+        self.users = [
+            UserFactory.create(
+                email="test{0}@test.org".format(i),
+                profile__name="Test {0}".format(i)
+            )
+            for i in range(5)
+        ]
+        self.prefs = [
+            UserPreferenceFactory.create(user=self.users[0], key="key0"),
+            UserPreferenceFactory.create(user=self.users[0], key="key1"),
+            UserPreferenceFactory.create(user=self.users[1], key="key0")
+        ]
+
+
 class UserViewSetTest(UserApiTestCase):
     LIST_URI = USER_LIST_URI
 
@@ -137,17 +151,10 @@ class UserViewSetTest(UserApiTestCase):
     def test_basic_auth(self):
         # ensure that having basic auth headers in the mix does not break anything
         self.assertHttpOK(
-                self.request_with_auth("get", self.LIST_URI, **self.basic_auth('someuser', 'somepass')))
+            self.request_with_auth("get", self.LIST_URI,
+                                   **self.basic_auth('someuser', 'somepass')))
         self.assertHttpForbidden(
-                self.client.get(self.LIST_URI, **self.basic_auth('someuser', 'somepass')))
-
-    def test_get_list_empty(self):
-        User.objects.all().delete()
-        result = self.get_json(self.LIST_URI)
-        self.assertEqual(result["count"], 0)
-        self.assertIsNone(result["next"])
-        self.assertIsNone(result["previous"])
-        self.assertEqual(result["results"], [])
+            self.client.get(self.LIST_URI, **self.basic_auth('someuser', 'somepass')))
 
     def test_get_list_nonempty(self):
         result = self.get_json(self.LIST_URI)
@@ -245,14 +252,6 @@ class UserPreferenceViewSetTest(UserApiTestCase):
     def test_debug_auth(self):
         self.assertHttpOK(self.client.get(self.LIST_URI))
 
-    def test_get_list_empty(self):
-        UserPreference.objects.all().delete()
-        result = self.get_json(self.LIST_URI)
-        self.assertEqual(result["count"], 0)
-        self.assertIsNone(result["next"])
-        self.assertIsNone(result["previous"])
-        self.assertEqual(result["results"], [])
-
     def test_get_list_nonempty(self):
         result = self.get_json(self.LIST_URI)
         self.assertEqual(result["count"], 3)
@@ -357,3 +356,29 @@ class UserPreferenceViewSetTest(UserApiTestCase):
                 "url": uri,
             }
         )
+
+
+class TestLanguageSetting(TestCase):
+    """
+    Test setting languages
+    """
+    def test_set_preference_happy(self):
+        user = UserFactory.create()
+        self.client.login(username=user.username, password='test')
+
+        lang = 'en'
+        response = self.client.post(reverse('user_api_set_language'), {'language': lang})
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        user_pref = UserPreference.get_preference(user, LANGUAGE_KEY)
+        self.assertEqual(user_pref, lang)
+
+    def test_set_preference_missing_lang(self):
+        user = UserFactory.create()
+        self.client.login(username=user.username, password='test')
+
+        response = self.client.post(reverse('user_api_set_language'))
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
+
+        self.assertIsNone(UserPreference.get_preference(user, LANGUAGE_KEY))
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/user_api/urls.py b/common/djangoapps/user_api/urls.py
index de24b67f02..9dac1e31c0 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/user_api/urls.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/user_api/urls.py
@@ -9,4 +9,5 @@ user_api_router.register(r'user_prefs', user_api_views.UserPreferenceViewSet)
 urlpatterns = patterns(
     '',
     url(r'^v1/', include(user_api_router.urls)),
+    url(r'^setlang/', 'user_api.views.set_language', name='user_api_set_language')
 )
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/user_api/views.py b/common/djangoapps/user_api/views.py
index c64a5a4d23..8c6b5b2ec9 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/user_api/views.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/user_api/views.py
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
+from django.http import HttpResponse, HttpResponseBadRequest
 from rest_framework import authentication
 from rest_framework import filters
 from rest_framework import permissions
 from rest_framework import viewsets
-from user_api.models import UserPreference
+from user_api.models import UserPreference, LANGUAGE_KEY
 from user_api.serializers import UserSerializer, UserPreferenceSerializer
 
 
@@ -43,3 +45,18 @@ class UserPreferenceViewSet(viewsets.ReadOnlyModelViewSet):
     serializer_class = UserPreferenceSerializer
     paginate_by = 10
     paginate_by_param = "page_size"
+
+
+@login_required
+def set_language(request):
+    """
+    This view is called when the user would like to set a language preference
+    """
+    user = request.user
+    lang_pref = request.POST.get('language', None)
+
+    if lang_pref:
+        UserPreference.set_preference(user, LANGUAGE_KEY, lang_pref)
+        return HttpResponse('{"success": true}')
+
+    return HttpResponseBadRequest('no language provided')
diff --git a/lms/envs/common.py b/lms/envs/common.py
index a1a8ad89e6..71c53a33d0 100644
--- a/lms/envs/common.py
+++ b/lms/envs/common.py
@@ -698,6 +698,10 @@ MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
     # Allows us to dark-launch particular languages
     'dark_lang.middleware.DarkLangMiddleware',
 
+    # Allows us to set user preferences
+    # should be after DarkLangMiddleware
+    'user_api.middleware.UserPreferenceMiddleware',
+
     # Detects user-requested locale from 'accept-language' header in http request
     'django.middleware.locale.LocaleMiddleware',
 
diff --git a/lms/templates/dashboard.html b/lms/templates/dashboard.html
index e3b484bd24..13ab35fef9 100644
--- a/lms/templates/dashboard.html
+++ b/lms/templates/dashboard.html
@@ -83,15 +83,17 @@
              });
     });
 
-    $("#change_language_form").submit(function(event, xhr) {
-      $.post('/i18n/setlang/',
-        {"language": language,},
-        function(data) {
-          if (data.success){
-            location.reload();
-          }
-          })
-      });
+    $("#submit-lang").click(function(event, xhr) {
+        event.preventDefault();
+        $.post('/user_api/setlang/',
+            {"language": $('#settings-language-value').val()})
+        .done(
+            function(data){
+                // submit form as normal
+                $('.settings-language-form').submit();
+            }
+        );
+    });
 
     $("#change_email_form").submit(function(){
       var new_email = $('#new_email_field').val();
diff --git a/lms/templates/dashboard/_dashboard_info_language.html b/lms/templates/dashboard/_dashboard_info_language.html
index c544a372b0..9314c4c735 100644
--- a/lms/templates/dashboard/_dashboard_info_language.html
+++ b/lms/templates/dashboard/_dashboard_info_language.html
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
 <%! from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _ %>
-<%!
-  from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
-%>
 
 <%namespace name='static' file='../static_content.html'/>