Texas State University defines an on-campus international student as anyone with a non-immigrant visa status, including H-1B visa holders, or those seeking a visa to enroll. If you are not a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, you will be classified as an international applicant.
An online international student is someone who holds citizenship in another country, is not a U.S. permanent resident, and resides outside the U.S. while enrolling in an online program.
Requirements for international admission and steps to apply are outlined below. All steps must be completed by the deadline for the semester you wish to enroll.
Admission Types
Freshman
First-time college applicants are required to graduate or have graduated from a foreign secondary school with an academic profile equivalent to that of a U.S. high school curriculum (see secondary credentials information).
Requirements
- Graduate with the equivalent of a U.S. high school diploma
- Meet freshman admission standards
- Meet the minimum English Language Proficiency Requirements
Transfer
Transfer applicants are students who have completed transferable credit hours after graduating from high school or receiving the equivalent of a U.S. high school diploma (see secondary credentials information).
Requirements
- 14 or fewer transfer credit hours completed with 2.0 cumulative GPA and meet freshman admission standards
- 15-29 transfer credit hours with 2.5 cumulative GPA
- 30+ transfer credit hours with 2.25 cumulative GPA
- Meet the minimum English Language Proficiency Requirements.
Prior College Course Work
As you prepare your application, please note that it is mandatory to indicate any post-secondary (university or college-level) course work you have completed. Be sure to submit the appropriate transcripts along with your application. Failing to provide this information could jeopardize your admission to the university, as well as your eligibility for scholarships.
How to Apply
Please complete the following application steps (submit required documents, fill out forms, etc.) by the appropriate deadline. Apply by the priority date to also meet the scholarship deadline.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact us.
Step 1
Submit Your Application
You must apply for admission online through the TXST Application, Common App, or ApplyTexas.
It is important that you fill out all sections of your application completely. Remember, the International Application is for anyone who is in a non-immigrant visa status. If you are not a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, refugee, or asylee, you should complete the international application. If you are not on a visa and are graduating from a Texas high school after three (3) years in residence in Texas, you are considered a domestic applicant (per Senate Bill 1528).
Applicants needing a visa to enter the U.S. should complete all application requirements at least a month before the posted deadline to ensure time to complete the process.
Step 2
Pay the Application Fee
TXST Admissions charges a nonrefundable application fee of $90. International documents will not be processed until this fee is paid. Within 24 hours of submitting your application, you will be sent an email containing a link to pay the fee by credit or debit card. Alternatively, you may mail a check or money order.
International students are not eligible for application fee waivers.
Step 3
Send Your School Documents/Credentials
Freshmen: Submit your secondary school transcript(s), including all courses taken and marks earned for each semester, as well as your graduation or school-leaving exam results. Original documents or copies that have been certified by your school or a U.S. embassy/consulate official must be submitted. Students that complete the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exam must provide a scratch card or results checker by the application closing date. If the original records are not in English, a certified translation must accompany the original records. For more information, visit our secondary credentials page.
Transfers: Submit your official college or university transcripts from each college you have attended. Texas State University only accepts credits from recognized accredited academic institutions. If the original records are not in English, a certified translation must accompany the original records. We do not accept unofficial college or university transcripts.
Step 4
Send Test Scores from Testing Agency
Test scores are only required to satisfy English Proficiency Requirements and will only be accepted if sent directly from the testing service.
TOEFL: The TOEFL school code for Texas State University is 006667.
IELTS: Select TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY as recipient of scores.
DuoLingo: Select TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY as recipient of scores.
Pearson (Academic): Select TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY as recipient of scores.
ACT: Our ACT school code number is 4178.
SAT: Our SAT school code number is 6667.
Cambridge Exams: International freshmen and transfer students may earn credit by submitting A and AS level Cambridge Assessment scores.
English Proficiency
International applicants must provide proof of English Proficiency with ONE of the following methods during the application process.
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Test Scores
Test Type Minimum Score Required for Admission* TOEFL iBT Total: 78; Each Section: 19; Except Writing: 18; Updated 6 Point Scale: Total 4; Each Section: 4 TOEFL Essentials Overall: 8.5 IELTS Overall: 6.5; Each Section: 6.0 Duolingo Overall: 105 SAT (EBRW) 520 ACT (English) 21 PTE (Academic) Overall: 52 iTEP 3.8 IB English 4 GCE/GCSE/IGCSE Grade of C (non-ESL English) WASSCE Grade of B3 Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced, or C2 Proficiency 176
*English proficiency scores must not be more than two years old. Scores older than two years or from a single-skill exam will not be accepted. All test scores must be sent officially and electronically through the testing agency for consideration.Exception: For all teacher and professional certification programs, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) requires a TOEFL iBT score to satisfy English Proficiency requirements, regardless of home country.
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Course Work - High School or College
Graduated from an accredited U.S. high school and completed three (3) full years of regular English courses (non-ESL).
or
Earned 30 or more transferable credits that include College Writing I (ENG 1310 or equivalent) and College Writing II (English 1320 or equivalent) with grades of C or higher from an accredited U.S. institution or an institution within an English proficiency exempt country.
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English Proficiency Exempt Countries
Please note: Applicants transferring to Texas State University from other U.S. schools prior to earning a bachelor's degree must also meet one (or more) of the English proficiency requirements listed above.
Additional Program Requirements
Degree Entry
There are some majors that require you to start as a “pre-major” and/or meet specific program requirements to be admitted to that major, or accepted into that degree program.
Secondary Credentials
Unsure what secondary credentials documentation is required when applying for admission to Texas State University? Click the button below to learn more about the types of documents you will need to request from institutions in your country.
INTERNATIONAL POST-SECONDARY (TRANSFER) CREDIT
Before transferring from an international college or university, it will be helpful to understand how your completed course credits will apply to your degree plan at Texas State University.
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Transferability
Texas State University’s Office of Admissions performs in-house evaluations of international transcripts. We do not use guidance from third-party evaluation agencies such as WES. Our international admission specialists use the knowledge of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) on the education systems in other countries.
Our office will generally transfer credits from undergraduate programs of schools that are recognized by the Ministry of Education (or equivalent body) in the country. Academic courses are eligible for credit consideration; however, remedial, English as a Second Language, and military courses are not considered for transfer. If an international school is deemed equivalent to a community college in the United States, vocational/technical courses will also not be considered for transfer.
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Credit Conversion Rate
Due to the differences in educational systems around the world, credits may not all transfer at a 1 to 1 rate (e.g., a 6 ECTS hour taken in Europe will transfer as 3 U.S. credit hours).
Most undergraduate degrees at Texas State are 120 credits, with about 15 credits taken each semester for 8 semesters to graduate within 4 years. Our office does our best to maintain conversion rates that give about 15 credits per semester. However, as course credits change and other information may be given to our office over time, credit conversions rates are subject to change and our credit conversion chart may be updated without any notice.
Please refer to the list of Post-Secondary Credentials by Country for current conversion charts.
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Grades
Our office follows guidance from AACRAO for grade conversions. If your transcript does not come with a grade scale that we can convert using AACRAO guidance, we will use one of their provided general grade scale conversion charts for your country.
Please refer to the list of Post-Secondary Credentials by Country for current grade conversion scales.
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Academic Transcripts and Translations
While our office will generally use unofficial copies of transcripts to make an admission decision, we will require that your school send your official transcript afterwards. Your school can either mail the transcript to our office or email it to processing@txstate.edu as a PDF.
At our office’s discretion, we may contact you to request the official transcript be sent directly from your school before we can make an admissions decision.
Applicants are required to submit English-language documents for their applications. If a transcript is not in English, it will need to be translated by a certified translation service. Our school does not endorse specific services. If your school sent your transcript to a translation service for translation into English, the translation service may email both the English translation and the original transcript to processing@txstate.edu along with a statement that they verify the original transcript is authentic. We do not accept translations done by applicants/students.
Our office recognizes that some documents may be difficult to obtain in the event of natural disasters or sociopolitical climates in other countries, but these situations are rare. If an official, final transcript is not provided by the beginning of registration for a second term of classes, enrollment at Texas State will be jeopardized.
To help you understand how international credits and grades are counted at TXST, we have provided a list of post-secondary credentials conversion charts by country.
Application Status
Once you've applied, you can check your status online.
Questions about applying?
We are here to help! Feel free to contact us for assistance.
Application Deadlines
All steps must be completed by the deadline for the semester you wish to enroll.
After You Are Admitted
Be sure to review the next steps to complete after you have been admitted.
Changing Start Term
To change start term, submit the online form. A new $90 application fee will be required for each term change.
Appeal a Decision
If you wish to appeal our admission decision, submit our online appeal form.