English Proficiency Requirements for Admission to the Graduate College

The Graduate College administers most of the advanced degree programs available at Iowa. Admission to the college requires a score of 550 or higher on the paper-based (PBT) version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a score of 213 or higher on the computer-based test (CBT), or a score of 81 on the Internet-based test (IBT).

Newly admitted graduate students who present TOEFL scores below 600 on the PBT (or below 250 on CBT, or below 100 on the IBT) are required to complete an English Proficiency Evaluation on campus before their first registration for classes.

Some departments may require students to complete an English Proficiency Evaluation, regardless of their TOEFL score. Students are required to complete any English as a Second Language course work (typically within the first year of study) specified as a result of the English Proficiency Evaluation.

There is no conditional admission for graduate students whose TOEFL scores are below 550 on the PBT (or below 213 on the CBT, or below 81 on the IBT).

Scores must be reported to the University directly from the testing agency. The University’s TOEFL school code is 6681.

Exceptions
Automatic waivers of the TOEFL requirement are granted for persons who have completed a bachelor’s degree (or higher) at an accredited university in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada (excluding French Quebec), Africa (English speaking), Australia, or New Zealand.

Alternative to the TOEFL
An International English Language Testing System (IELTS) total score of 7.0, with no subscore less than 6.0, may be used to satisfy the English-language requirement. All IELTS test takers will be required to take the on-campus English Proficiency Evaluation.