English Proficiency for Admission

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.

  • 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 the 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 fall under any of the following category.

  • Attended a U.S. college/university as a full-time student for a minimum of one academic year resulting in 30 academic undergraduate credits or 18 academic graduate credits by the time they start their program at NMSU.
  • Being currently enrolled in a full-time, approved intensive English program in U.S.
  • Received a university degree in the U.S. or from one of the following countries (listed below)
 Anguilla  Eritrea  Malawi  St. Christopher
 Antigua  Fiji  Malta  St. Helena
 Australia  Gambia  Mauritius  St. Kitts and Nevis
 Bahamas  Ghana  Micronesia (Federated States of)  St. Lucia
 Barbados  Grand Cayman Islands  Montserrat  St. Vincent & Grenadines
 Barbuda  Grenada  Namibia  Swaziland
 Belize  Grenada and the Grenadines  Nauru  Tanzania
 Bermuda  Guernsey  New Zealand  Trinidad & Tobago
 Botswana  Guyana  Nigeria  Tristan da Cunha Island
 Caicos Islands  Ireland  Norfolk Island  Turks & Caicos Islands
 Cameroon (Anglophone)  Israel  Papua New Guinea  Uganda
 Canada (except Quebec)  Jamaica  Philippines  Virgin Islands
 Cayman Islands  Jersey  Scotland  Wales
 Christmas Islands  Kenya  Sierra Leone  Zambia
 Cook Island  Kiribati Islands  Singapore  Zimbabwe
 Dominica  Lesotho  Solomon Islands
 England  Liberia  South Africa

 

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 the 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.

 

Translations

Transcripts that are not in English must be translated. Applicants need to obtain official translations from a company or individual recognized as an approved translator in their country or in the US. ISSS highly recommends SpanTran translation needs since the required foreign credit evaluation will also be processed in one step. Additionally, SpanTran will send an official credit evaluation report directly to NMSU at no extra charge. The total cost depends on whether you will need additional services like an expedited delivery, for example.