Admissions Requirements for Students Educated Outside the United States

 

Applicants educated outside of the United States are required to submit transcript evaluation(s) and translation(s) for each post-secondary school attended, and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores.

The scenarios below require official foreign transcripts to be evaluated by a Foreign Transcript Evaluation Agency. Transcripts and additional documents in languages other than English must be accompanied by an English translation. CUNY Document Translation Guidelines (PDF).

  • Applicants who have attended post-secondary schools outside of the United States and are currently studying in the United States on a non-immigrant (temporary) status. We define applicants in this case as international students*. If a Student Visa is needed, click on need a Student Visa for instructions.
  • Applicants studying in the United States on an immigrant status (permanent resident) or who are Naturalized Citizens and completed all or part of their education outside of the United States.
  • Applicants who have participated in a study abroad program.
  • course-by-course evaluation with grade point average (GPA)
  • degree evaluation, which must be equivalent to a United States Bachelor's Degree
  • notarized English translation for documents in languages other than English
  • See the CUNY Document Translation Guidelines
  • copy of the official transcript in the original language submitted to the evaluation service

Evaluations and translations should be completed 8-10 weeks prior to the deadline.

We accept foreign credit evaluations from the preferred agencies listed below or you may use an agency that is currently a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).

Please note: 
We do not accept evaluations from former NACES members (i.e. Global Services Associates, Inc.).

Evaluation Service Translate Evaluate Authenticate
Academic Evaluation Services, Inc. Y Y Y
Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. N Y Y
SpanTran: The Evaluation Company Y Y Y
World Education Services Y Y Y

English Language Proficiency Exam

An English language proficiency test is required for applicants who fit one or both descriptions below. The scores should not be more than 2 years old: 

  •  Applicants who have submitted academic records from a non-English speaking country.
  • *International Students
Test Score Requirement Test Website
Duolingo The minimum Duolingo score accepted is 85. https://englishtest.duolingo.com/applicants
International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) - Academic The minimum IELTS Academic score accepted is 6 https://ielts.org/take-a-test
Test of English as a Foreign Language The minimum TOEFL score accepted is 500 (paper-based test) and 61 (TOEFL iBT). https://ets.org/toefl.html

Please note: The scores listed above are the required minimums for admission to Lehman and are higher in most fields.

Official score reports should be sent electronically directly from the testing service to the Graduate Admissions Office.

*At Lehman, an "international student" is defined as any person studying in the United States on a nonimmigrant visa.