The College of Nursing and Health Professions School of Nursing requires a high level of proficiency in English so that all students will be able to fully meet academic and clinical objectives as well as meet criteria for professional licensure.
All foreign born students must take one of the following tests:
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a score of 83 on the preferred internet-based test (iBT), 570 on the paper-based test, or 213 on the computer-based test.
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a score of at least 6.5 and a spoken band score of 7.
- Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE) with a score of 56.
The TOEFL is available at the ASU Testing Center. When taking the exam off campus, the report code for ASU is 6011.
The term foreign born refers to people residing in the United States who were not U.S. citizens at birth. The foreign-born population includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent immigrants, refugees and asylees, legal non-immigrants (including those on student, work, or other temporary visas), and persons residing in the country without authorization. In contrast, the term native born refers to people residing in the United States who were U.S. citizens in one of three categories: 1) born in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia; 2) born in United States Insular areas such as Puerto Rico or Guam; 3) born abroad to at least one U. S. citizen parent.
Exemption
You may be exempt for the English proficiency testing if you are foreign born but attended school in
the United States since kindergarten. For the exemption you must provide official school records
showing continuous enrollment in U. S. schools since kindergarten.
English as a Second Language
Students who do not meet the required English language proficiency may enroll in ASU’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the International Center for English. Potential nursing students enrolled in the ESL program must maintain an average of 85 or higher in levels 0 through 4. In the final or 5th level of the ESL program an average of 90 or higher must be maintained. On completion of the ESL program, the potential nursing student must take the internet based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Upon successfully meeting the proficiency requirement, potential students are eligible to apply to the School of Nursing.
