International Students

International Applicant Definition

You are an international applicant if:

  1. You are a citizen or permanent resident alien of a country or political area other than the United States with a residence outside the United States to which you expect to return, and
  2. Either are, or propose to be, a temporary alien in the United States. This page briefly outlines admissions requirements for all international students.

English Proficiency Information

International applicants must present evidence of English competency.

An English proficiency exam is required, unless a student meets one of two criteria:

  1. The student has 2 or more years of full time education in a country where English is the only official language.
  2. The student submits a letter from a US employer of at least one year stating English proficiency.

The university accepts three official English proficiency exams:

1) TOEFL iBT – Scores must be reported directly to UIC from ETS. Required minimums are:

  • Total Score: 80
  • Listening: 17
  • Writing: 21
  • Reading: 19
  • Speaking: 20

2) IELTS – Scores must be reported to the UIC Electronic Download account by the IELTS test center. Required minimums are:

  • Overall Score: 6.5
  • Listening: 6
  • Writing: 6
  • Reading: 6
  • Speaking: 6

3) PTE Academic – Scores must be reported directly to UIC from Pearson. Required minimums are:

  • Overall Score: 54
  • Listening: 47
  • Writing: 56
  • Reading: 51
  • Speaking: 53

Official Transcript Information

Graduate International applicants must upload their transcripts and degrees into the UIC Supplemental Application. The UIC Office of Admissions conducts their own evaluation and charges an International Credential Evaluation Fee as part of the process.

UIC does not require or accept third party evaluations, such as WES or ECE. Students can submit a WES evaluation via SOPHAS, which the program will use for application review, but it is not required and will not be accepted in lieu of the direct upload to UIC.

Students admitted to the UIC School of Public Health will need to provide sealed, official transcripts to the UIC Office of Admissions prior to their second term at the university.