Following rapid social development and educational policy orientation in China, higher institutions are developing new optional courses in English. One of these courses is interpreting for non-English majors (IFNEM), which requires a needs analysis (NA) at the beginning. However, few studies have been found on the NA of an IFNEM, empirical ones in particular. In the limited empirical research, merely sophomore students' needs were surveyed through a single questionnaire, leaving many practical issues to be further explored. To advance the current body of research, the authors of this paper designed a complex structured questionnaire based on Hutchinson and Waters’s Framework for Analyzing Learning Needs, delivered it to 104 freshmen and 52 junior students and conducted follow-up interviews with eight of them who had given typical answers in this questionnaire. Such issues were investigated as students’ motivation for taking an IFNEM, their anticipated goals and objectives of the course, course entry requirements (if there should be any), selection of teaching content and materials and teaching environments. Results showed that the students highly approved of establishing an IFNEM for mainly Surface Motivation and wished for no entry requirements; however, limited by their current English proficiency, they aimed to improve both interpreting skills and English listening and speaking abilities. This study attempts to offer insights into the curriculum design of IFNEM and other optional courses in English for higher institutions.