A graduate international student must hold at minimum a four year bachelor’s degree or its equivalent and is able to demonstrate English proficiency, both written and oral by submitting an official TOEFL or IELTS score report.

English Proficiency for Admission

• TOEFL 79 IBT; 550 PBT
• IELTS 6.5
• Duolingo 105

Doctoral level students must provide official proof of an English Proficiency minimum score as stated above.

International students admitted into a master's degree program with a proficiency listed below, are required to sit for the English Placement Exam prior to beginning academic coursework. (The International Student and Scholar Services Office will arrange this test upon arrival). If the results of the English Placement Exam do not meet the requirements for academic coursework, the student may be required to take additional academic English classes (ENGL 1105M Intermediate ESL Composition and Grammar Review and/or ENGL 471 M Scholarly Writing for International Graduate Students) as part of the degree requirements.

• TOEFL 68 to 78 IBT; 549 PBT
• IELTS 6.0
• Duolingo 95 to 104

English Proficiency Waiver

International students are waived from the English language test requirement if they have received a university degree in the U.S. or from one of the following countries (listed below), or have attended a U.S. college/university as a full-time student for a minimum of one academic year resulting in 30 academic credits.

Admission process

Please visit the admissions tab for information regarding the application review process. The Graduate School generally offers admission to international students for Fall and Spring semesters only. See academic departments for programs that enroll students in the summer.

Deadlines

Because international students have visa requirements, please ensure that you apply by the specific graduate program’s deadline date. If no program deadline is listed, you must apply by March 1 for Fall semester or October 1 for Spring semester. The Graduate School cannot guarantee that an application will be processed if received after the deadline. For questions about the i-20 process, please contact International Student and Scholar Services.

Transcript evaluation

Graduate School does not require transcript evaluations as part of the application process but reserves the right to request an evaluation should there be a concern or question regarding the academic record. If the GPA calculation by the Graduate School does not correspond to the applicant’s idea of equivalency, the applicant is welcome to have the academic record evaluated by a third party evaluator. All evaluations must be performed by a recognized member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). Academic records sent for third party evaluation should request a course-by-course evaluation as well as degree level achieved. Graduate School reserves the right not to accept evaluations omitting academic marks. NMSU nor the Graduate School accept responsibility for any fees pertaining to third party evaluations.

International COVID-19 Updates 

For up to date rules and regulations regarding the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), refer to the link below.
www.ice.gov/coronavirus