English Language Requirements
All undergraduate and graduate international students who apply to Saginaw Valley State University and who are not native English speakers must provide proof of English language proficiency.
Citizens of the English Exempt Countries (see list at bottom) do not have to fulfill the English language requirement.
Ways To Satisfy Your English Requirements
You can satisfy the English language requirement in one of the following ways: Submit your scores through the testing service. If you have not yet sent your official scores via the testing service, email vafinch@svsu.edu. We do not accept test scores that are more than two years old.
- Submit official scores at or above these minimum scores:
- TOEFL internet-based: 71
- IELTS overall band: 6.0 UG
- PTE (Pearson Test of English) Academic overall score: 48 UG
- MET (Michigan English Test, 4-skill): 52
- Duolingo English Test: 105 UG
- iTEP Academic: 3.7
- Submit official SAT or ACT scores at or above these minimum scores:
- SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 510
- ACT (English section only): 21
Our SAT institutional code - 1766
Our ACT institutional code - 2057
- Complete 3 Advanced Level subjects or 3 Higher Level IB subjects.
- Transfer students currently enrolled in undergraduate study in the United States at a regionally accredited college or university can fulfill the English language requirement if they have passed a course equivalent to Saginaw Valley State University's English 111 (Composition I).
- Successfully complete level 112 at an ELS Language Center.
- Completing English language programs outside Saginaw Valley may be considered on an individual basis. Include certificates of completion with your application.
- Applicants may qualify for a waiver based on high school language of instruction. On an individual basis, we will waive the English proficiency requirement for applicants who have successfully earned a high school diploma at an international high school where the only language of instruction is English. Your graduation date should be less than two years ago to qualify for this waiver.
International transfer students enrolled in an accredited college or university where the language of instruction is English may qualify for a waiver upon completing a minimum of 24 semester credit hours of undergraduate coursework.
English Test-Exempt Countries
- Anguilla
- Antigua
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- Botswana
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Brunei Darussalam
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Christmas Islands
- Cook Islands
- Dominica
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands
- Fiji
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Grenada
- Guam
- Guyana
- Ireland, Republic of
- Jamaica
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Montserrat
- Namibia
- New Zealand
- Nigeria
- Norfolk Island
- Papua New Ginea
- Philippines
- Samoa, American
- Samoa, Western
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- St. Helen
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Uganda
- United Kingdom and Northern Ireland
- Vanuatu
- Virgin Islands, British
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
