Procedure to Request a Waiver for English Language Competency

October 2021

This procedure needs to be completed by the department, not the applicant.

The English competency tests (TOEFL, IELTS, PTE A, etc.) are designed to give graduate program admissions committees some information to judge potential for success. A reasonable level of English competency (reading, listening, speaking, and writing) are important skills for student success in the nationally- competitive MSU graduate education environment. It is our collective responsibility to ensure, as best we can, the potential for success, by using these standard test scores, which are backed up with considerable research on reliability, in the admissions process.

The policy of requiring English language test scores, and the minimum University scores for each kind of test (TOEFL, IELTS, PTE A, etc.) acceptable to MSU are established by the University Committee on Graduate Studies. The policy and scores are in the Academic Programs catalog: https://reg.msu.edu/AcademicPrograms/Text.aspx?Section=111#s336. Many programs establish score minimums higher than the MSU standard. The MSU English Language Center provides the necessary expertise for interpretation of the scores and is the Grad School’s partner for this activity.

There is a process for automatic waivers and for non-automatic waivers of the requirement of test scores for applicants “whose first language is not English”.

AUTOMATIC waivers by the Office of Admissions:

Bachelor’s degree earned in the U.S. (or other English-speaking country). If a copy of the (old) English language competency scores is available, please send to Admissions. The BA or BS program should be a regular 4-year degree the majority of credits earned in the U.S. (or other English-speaking country), not 100% online, not an “experiential” degree that is based on credit for life experiences and/or not earned at a branch campus in a non-English-speaking country.
Bachelor’s degree earned at MSU, the majority of credits earned while on our campus.
Master’s degree earned at an AAU institution (see https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members) on a U.S. campus. Helpful if English language competency scores are included (even if old) for the student’s admission into the master’s program

NON-AUTOMATIC waivers process:

To request a non-automatic waiver of these requirements, a graduate program administrator (academic program coordinator, coordinator, director) must submit this form. The form contains a link to preview the information required.

DEPARTMENTS ARE EXPECTED TO MONITOR STUDENT PROGRESS CAREFULLY IF THEY RECEIVE A WAIVER FOR THE REQUIREMENT OF A PRE-ADMISSION ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPETENCY SCORE!

We have a collective responsibility to help students succeed.

Required Information

Below is the information you will need to complete the non-automatic waiver form. Please gather this information beforehand to prepare to complete the request.

Applicant’s Information

Name & last 4 Digits of Applicant's Application ID
Matriculation Semester and Year
College & degree program
Provisional or regular admission

Primary reason justifying your waiver request.

The applicant has passing test scores that are expired.

Test scores & expiration date
What evidence do you have that the applicant has maintained or improved their English abilities since taking the English language proficiency test?

The applicant has valid test scores that are just short of passing.

Test scores & expiration date.
What additional evidence do you have that suggests the applicant's English abilities are sufficient to grant a waiver?
What form(s) of support will be provided to the applicant to increase their English language proficiency, and who will provide this support?

The applicant has or is in the process of getting a master's degree within the U.S. at a non-AAU university.

Master’s degree university & graduation date
A single PDF that contains the applicant's (official or unofficial) master's degree transcript.
Applicant's test scores that were used to gain admission to their master's degree university, if known
Additional evidence of the applicant's English abilities

The applicant has or is in the process of getting a degree from a university outside of the U.S. where the language of instruction is English.

Name(s) of Instructional Institution(s)
A single PDF that contains:
- The applicant's (official or unofficial) transcript from that degree
- An official document (in English) from the institution(s) certifying that the language of instruction was entirely English.
Any previous English test scores, or explanation of why testing was not done.
- Brief description of any interview the program has conducted with the applicant. Upload a writing sample, if available.
Any other evidence of English proficiency.

Another reason

Please describe why the applicant does not meet the requirements and why they should get a waiver of the English language proficiency requirement.
Has the applicant taken an English language proficiency test?
- Yes: What is the expiration date for the applicant's test scores?
- Yes: What were the applicant's test scores?
- No: Why did the applicant not take an English language proficiency test?
Has someone in the admissions process besides the prospective advisor interviewed the applicant and determined their spoken English is proficient?
- Briefly describe who conducted the interview and in what format, or explain why an interview was not needed.

Do you have a writing sample from the applicant?
- Please upload the writing sample(s) as a single file.
Please provide any other evidence of English proficiency.

Other Information

Any additional comments
Email for Graduate Program Director (GPD)
By default, the form submitter and GPD will receive notifications whenever the status of the request changes. Enter the emails for anyone else who needs intermediate updates along the way (e.g., program assistant), except the student.

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