Admission of International Students

An international student at APUS is defined as any student who does not hold U.S. citizenship. In addition to the admissions requirements set forth in its policies and procedures, APUS reserves the right to require additional documentation for admission as it deems appropriate or as may otherwise be required by law. Students who live internationally should also refer to the Countries Denied Admission page.

International students may not enroll as a non-degree seeking student nor may they enroll in the following programs: Associate of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies and Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies.

English Proficiency Requirement

English is the official language of the American Public University System. Other than foreign language courses, all classroom requirements are to be completed by the student in English without the use of any translation. To ensure that students have the opportunity to succeed in our courses, students who are not U.S. citizens may be asked to provide verification of English proficiency in order to enroll for academic credit in any of our courses.

APUS accepts a variety of English proficiency exams; test results are accepted from an approved vendor list that is managed by our admissions team and approved by the Vice President of Admissions. These examinations are reviewed yearly to ensure that these tests and the acceptable scores meet APUS criteria and the list may change occasionally based on approval by the Vice President of Admissions. International students will be blocked from registration, or dropped from any initial registration, if it is determined that English proficiency is required to complete the admissions record.

Exemptions

• U.S Military: Students who are active duty, reserve status, guard status, or retired U.S. military are exempt from this testing requirement.
• Previous U.S. Degrees:
  • For undergraduate, masters & graduate certificate programs, students who have earned an associate or higher degree from an accredited U.S. institution or who have completed an English composition course with a grade of B- or higher at an accredited U.S. institution.
  • For doctoral programs, students who have earned a bachelor’s or higher degree in residence at an institutional accredited institution in the U.S. or who have transcripts from at least 12 semester hours of graduate coursework with a GPA of 3.0 (out of 4.0) in residence at an accredited institution in the U.S.
• Citizenship: Students who are citizens of certain countries, where English is the only official language, may be exempt from this testing requirement. Students should contact their admissions representative or review our English Proficiency Requirements to verify if they would be covered by this exemption.
• Readmissions: Any international students who are currently disenrolled but requesting readmission to APUS will be required to fulfill this admission requirement unless they already successfully completed an APUS course in the past with a grade of C or higher.
• U.S. High School Graduates: Students who can supply an official transcript of graduation from a U.S. high school whose diploma is recognized by the State Board of Education or students who hold a U.S. GED certificate.

Submitting Test Results

To have an official TOEFL Score Report mailed directly to our university, the APUS code number 5315 must be supplied to ETS. Students may also send their own scanned copy of their TOEFL, IELTS, or other acceptable test results to [email protected]or fax to 304-724-3788. Examples of acceptable scores for common English proficiency tests are provided below. If applicants have questions about a particular test or score not listed, please contact [email protected].

Minimum Test Scores Accepted

	Undergraduate Minimum	Graduate Minimum
ACT English (Must be less than 5 years old)	18	21
SAT Verbal (Must be less than 5 years old)	450	480
WAEC (formerly the GCE) (No timeframe)	English C4 or higher	English B2 or higher
TOEFL Paper Based Test (Must be less than 2 years old)	520 with TWE of 4.0	550 with TWE of 4.5
TOEFL Internet Based Test (Must be less than 2 years old)	Reading 21	Reading 24
	Writing 23	Writing 27
Duolingo	100	105
IELTS Academic Test (Must be less than 2 years old)	Reading 6.0	Reading 6.5
	Writing 6.0	Writing 6.5

Review the TOEFL and IELTS websites for more information.

Spanish Language Programs - Spanish Proficiency Requirement

In APUS’s Spanish language programs, Spanish is the language of instruction. All classroom requirements are to be completed by the student in Spanish without the use of any translation. To ensure that students have the opportunity to succeed in our courses, students who are not citizens of countries where Spanish is the official language of instruction may be asked to provide verification of Spanish proficiency in order to enroll for academic credit in any of our courses. 

APUS accepts a variety of Spanish proficiency exams including DELE (Diplomas de Espanol como Lengua Extranjere), Siele (Servicio International de Evaluacion de la Lengua Espanola), CELU (Certificado de Espanol Lengua y Uso), TELC Spanish (The European Language Certificates), and GCSE Spanish (General Certificate of Secondary Education). APUS also accepts ALTA Language Services (reading and writing only). Test results are accepted from an approved vendor list that is managed by our admissions team and approved by the Vice President of Enrollment Management. These examinations are reviewed yearly to ensure that these tests and the acceptable sources meet APUS criteria, and the list may change occasionally based on approval by the Vice President of Enrollment Management. Student will be blocked from registration, or dropped from any initial registration, if it is determined that Spanish proficiency is required to complete the admissions record. 

Exemptions

Previous Degrees

For undergraduate, masters & graduate certificate programs, students who have earned an associate or higher degree from an institution based in a country where Spanish is the language of instruction, accredited or approved by national standards or the applicable Ministry of Education. A credential evaluation may be required to ascertain U.S. equivalency. 

Citizenship

Students who are citizens of certain countries, where Spanish is the only official language, may be exempt from this testing requirement. Students who are citizens of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela are currently exempt, as well as United States citizens who earned a high school equivalency in Puerto Rico. Students with questions should contact their admissions representative. 

Readmissions

Any student seeking to enroll in Spanish programs who are currently disenrolled but requesting readmission to APUS will be required to fulfill this admission requirement unless they already successfully completed a Spanish APUS course in the past with a grade of C or higher. 

High School Graduates

Students who can supply an official transcript of graduation from a high school based in a country where Spanish is the language of instruction, accredited or approved by national standards or the applicable Ministry of Education. A credential evaluation may be required to ascertain U.S. equivalency. 

Submitting Test Results 

Students may also send their own scanned copy of their DELE, SIELE, CELU, or other acceptable test results to [email protected] or fax to 304-724-3788. In general, APUS requires a minimum level of B2 for undergraduate courses and a minimum level of C1 for graduate courses, based upon the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Examples of acceptable scores for common Spanish proficiency tests are provided below. If applicants have questions about a particular test or score not listed, please contact [email protected]. 

Minimum Test Scores Accepted

	Undergraduate Minimum	Graduate Minimum
ALTA	Advanced (9-10)	Advanced (9-10)
DELE	60 (30 points in each section) at level B2	60 (30 points in each section) at level C1
SIELE*	B2	C1
CELU*	B2	C1
TELC*	B2	C1

*Based upon the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages levels. Each exam's scoring will be converted or correspond to one of these levels. 

Non-U.S. Transcripts

APUS will accept official evaluation reports from the foreign education evaluation agencies listed below. The student will be responsible for contacting the agency directly for procedure and fee information: 

 

A student must have earned a standard high school diploma or its international equivalent in order to enroll in an undergraduate program at APUS. If a student is enrolling in an undergraduate level program and has a high school credential from a non-U.S. high school, APUS requires students who graduated from a non-U.S. high school to provide to APUS appropriate documentation of the secondary school credential, which may be obtained by contacting the non-U.S. high school or the Ministry of Education in the country where such education was completed.  University personnel will review the credential for equivalency to U.S. secondary education standards. APUS may require a student to submit to an external evaluation of their high school credential if APUS cannot determine equivalency or otherwise has reason to believe the credential may not be valid. The applicant is responsible for the cost of the evaluation. U.S. military members and Veterans generally are not required to provide evidence of a non-U.S. high school credential for admissions purposes. However, if APUS has reason to believe the high school credential may not be valid, the University will require the applicant to provide a diploma.  

If required to submit an external evaluation, a student must request that the educational agency interpreting their high school credential send an official degree-only report directly to APUS. The report must verify that the student's high school credential is at least the equivalent of a U.S. high school. Military and Veterans are exempt from this requirement. If a student has earned 60 college credits or more that are applicable to their current degree plan, they may be eligible to get the high school credential requirement waived. More details regarding the high school requirement can be found on our General Admission Policies page. 

If a student has previously completed college level courses, and is enrolling in an Associate or Bachelor degree, the student is required to submit a Transfer Credit Evaluation (TCE) Application as part of their admission process, unless the only previous college coursework they completed was at a non-U.S. university.

If a student has not earned the equivalent of a Bachelor degree yet, and they wish to have their previous college credit reviewed for potential transfer credit, the student must request the educational agency interpreting their non-U.S. college-level transcript to send a course-by-course evaluation report directly to the university. If a student does not wish to have their non-U.S. transcript evaluated by an outside agency, they will only need to have an official transcript of their studies sent to us from their previous school for their student admission file.

Exception for Canadian Institutions

If a student has applied for a transfer credit evaluation and is requesting transfer credit for coursework taken at a Canadian Institution, they are not required to get an International course-by-course evaluation of the Canadian transcript if it meets the following criteria, although the student will still need to have an official transcript sent to us:

• Transcript is in English.
• Transcript is from a school that is a member of the Association of Canadian Colleges and Universities, OR if accreditation is shown on the transcript from the Ministry of Education of the province, OR if the school has been given degree-granting rights by an act of the Canadian legislature OR if listed as a school already recognized in CHEA database.

Graduate Admissions

If a student is enrolling at APUS in a master’s or graduate certificate program and their bachelor’s or higher degree is from a non-U.S. institution, they must request the educational agency interpreting their non-U.S. college-level transcript to send an official degree-only verification report directly to us. The report must verify that the student earned the equivalent of a bachelor's degree from an institutional accredited institution in the United States.

If a student is enrolling at APUS in a doctoral program and their master’s or higher degree is from a non-U.S. institution, they must request the educational agency interpreting their non-U.S. college-level transcript to send an official degree-only verification report directly to us. The report must verify that the student earned the equivalent of a master's degree from an institutional accredited institution in the United States. For a student's unofficial transcript of a bachelor’s degree, a degree verification is not required.   

If a student has also completed graduate-level course work at a non-U.S. institution and wishes to have this credit reviewed for potential transfer credit, they will also need to submit a Transfer Credit Application at APUS and have the educational agency complete a course-by-course evaluation with the report sent directly to us. This is not required and is only if a student wants to try to transfer credit to APUS.

Exceptions