International Graduate Admissions

• Submit your completed application

Apply Online

• $38 USD application fee is non-refundable
• Fee must be paid before your application will be processed and must accompany your application. Credit card payment accepted at the end of the online application.

International applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)

79 or higher (iBT)

8.5 or higher (TOEFL Essentials)

IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System)

6.0 or higher

Duolingo English Test

110 or higher

Pearson Test of English (PTE)

53 or higher 

Native Speakers of English

Applicants who hold a conferred degree from one of the following countries are exempt from providing proof of English proficiency: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cook Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grand Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Montserrat, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Official Transcripts

One official transcript (in English or with translation) verifying receipt of an undergraduate degree or equivalent degree from an institution with regional accreditation and previous graduate credit and degrees must accompany an application. A transcript verifying receipt of a previous graduate degree may be required for some programs. Official transcripts must be sent directly to the University of South Dakota from the issuing institution(s). An electronic official transcript must be transmitted directly between institutions using the electronic transcript service authorized by the issuing institution. A transcript delivered by the student or issued to the student is not official. For applicants who have received their baccalaureate or graduate degree from USD or from any of the South Dakota Regental institutions, transcripts are available to USD and are not required to be requested by the student.

Emailed transcripts cannot be considered as official. If you have an attested copy in a sealed envelope from the issuing institution, it can be forwarded through the mail. As long as the original seal is intact, it will be considered official.

While generally not required, we highly recommend all applicants submit a professional academic transcript evaluation. While we are able to evaluate most transcripts in-house, processing times can be lengthy. It is therefore recommend that students submit a professional evaluation that includes transcript authenticity, GPA calculation, and U.S. degree equivalency. SPANTRAN provides an USD-specific site for your convenience. SPANTRAN has reduced rates if this USD specific link is used. Additionally, USD partners with International Education Evaluators to provide an additional option for evaluation at a reduced rate.

Please note that the Graduate School reserves the right to request an official external credential evaluation in order to complete an admission decision. While USD conducts internal evaluation of international transcripts, we may require a 3rd party credential evaluation (e.g., WES/ECE) for applicants with certain credentials or results (e.g., those with three-year undergraduate degrees, combined degrees, academic results near the minimum U.S. equivalent GPA needed to receive full admission, etc.).

Credential evaluations will only be accepted from organizations/agencies who are approved members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (www.naces.org) or the Association of International Credential Evaluators (www.aice-eval.org). No foreign transfer credits will be accepted without a course-by-course evaluation from World Education Services (www.wes.org) or Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (www.ece.org).

Official Admission Test Scores

If test scores are required by a graduate program, students may upload a copy of their score report to their GradCAS application. Full admission will require that an official score report is sent to USD directly from the testing body.

Not all departments require exam scores. Refer to graduate catalog department pages.

Letters of Recommendation

All programs require letters of recommendation, but the number of recommendations may vary. Please see specific graduate program requirements for details. The letters of recommendation are requested in the application and should be submitted by the reference through the application (CAS Evaluator Portal).

Statement of Purpose

Applicants are required to submit a statement of purpose or a general goal statement outlining why the applicant wants to attend graduate school. The statement of purpose should be completed and uploaded in the documents section in GradCAS. Please see specific program requirements for details.

Additional Department Requirements

Individual graduate programs have different admission requirements and different deadlines; please refer to the current graduate catalog for departmental specific admission information.

Résumé

You will need to submit a resume with your application.

Passport

The passport is not used by the program or Graduate School in the admission decision. However, your passport name will be the name used if you are issued a visa. Everything works better when we put your name into our systems as it appears in your passport.

Copy/scan the page(s) containing the photo, date of birth, passport number, date of expiration and signature (if any) from your valid, unexpired passport.