UT Health Science Center:
AA108-H Student English Language Proficiency – Academic Affairs
No./Title: AA108 – STUDENT LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY | Resp. Office: INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Approval Body: CASA | Effective Date: 05/01/1988 |
Category: ACADEMIC | Last Review: 10/5/2021 | Next Review: 10/5/2024 |
Contact: Connie Childs, Director, International Affairs | 901.448.8484 |
POLICY
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) may require students, whose native language is not English, to present the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) when they apply for admission.
RATIONALE AND EXPLANATION
The ability to communicate effectively in the English language is critically important to students’ academic and personal success as well as to safety in laboratories, clinics, and other academic and research environments.
Colleges may require applicants, whose primary language is not English and/or who have completed their secondary or tertiary education primarily outside of the U.S., to submit official scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) as evidence of English language proficiency.
English language proficiency requirements may be met by providing satisfactory test scores. To be considered official, test scores must be sent directly from the testing agency to the university and be less than two years old at the time of application.
Test scores for UTHSC are:
- TOEFL (iBT or Paper-delivered test): 79 or higher1
- TOEFL-Paper based test: 550 or higher1
- IELTS: 6.5 or higher
1 The Paper-based test is no longer given, but results from previous tests are valid for 2 years.
EXEMPTIONS
Colleges may exempt the following applicants from submitting one of the above English language proficiency scores:
- Applicants who have received at least a baccalaureate degree from an accredited U.S. institution of higher education.
- Applicants who have earned the equivalent of a baccalaureate degree or higher in, or who are citizens of, Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or the United States. (UTHSC uses the exempt country list published by CFGNS: https://www.cgfns.org/services/certification/visascreen-visa-credentials-assessment/ (“English Requirement”)
- Other appropriate reason, such as lengthy residence in the U.S., interview with applicant, etc.
PROCEDURE:
Applicants who are not exempted by their college from the English language proficiency exam must request that their test scores be submitted to UTHSC by the respective testing agency (TOEFL or IELTS) when they apply to UTHSC.
The TOEFL school-code is:
- UTHSC: 1850
For IELTS scores: Notify IELTS to submit the score to the UTHSC Office of Enrollment Services, 910 Madison Avenue, 5th Floor, Memphis, TN 38163.
UTHSC reserves the right to require additional evidence of English language proficiency.
APPROVAL HISTORY
Effective: May 1, 1988
Revised: August 1996
Revised August 7, 2012, Committee on Academic and Student Affairs (CASA) Revised: November 3, 2015, CASA
Approved: November 5, 2015 Chancellor
Revised: April 3, 2018, CASA
Approved: April 16, 2018, Chancellor
Reviewed: 10-5-2021, CASA
Approved: 10-11-2021, Chief Academic Officer
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