International Applicants

International applicants and applicants whose native language is not English will be required to show proof of English proficiency and U.S. degree equivalency.

Our programs require students to engage in group discussions, class participation and oral presentations. In order to be successful in these programs, students must possess a high proficiency in written and oral English.

Syracuse codes for English proficiency exams are:

Applicants who are citizens of the following English-speaking countries are not required to submit test scores: Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.

If you have received a degree from an accredited institution whose instruction is in English, you may be eligible to waive the English proficiency exam requirement. Contact an admissions counselor to learn more about test waivers.

Students may demonstrate competency by submitting scores from IELTS as an alternative to the TOEFL. Our institution requires an overall band score be submitted.

Syracuse University accepts electronic scores submitted by the IELTS test center. An institutional code is not required. Please contact the test center where you took the IELTS test directly and request that your test scores be sent electronically using the IELTS system.

All IELTS test centers worldwide are able to send scores electronically to our institution.

Applicants who studied at universities outside the U.S. should have a degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree or higher. International credentials are assessed in terms of the educational pattern of the country, the type of institution attended and the level of study completed before the expected date of enrollment at the Whitman School. The degree should generally represent a minimum of four years of college-level study, which follows at least 12 years of schooling at the elementary and secondary levels.

If your degree does not meet your country’s equivalency guidelines to a U.S. bachelor’s degree, you should submit an official World Education Services (WES), SpanTran or an approved* evaluation agency course-by-course evaluation report to verify that your degree is equivalent. 

*Approved evaluation agencies are those who are members of NAFSA, NACES, and/or AACRAO.

The following are general guidelines for equivalents to a U.S. bachelor’s degree:

You can easily return to any of our admissions pages using the links below:

To speak with an admissions counselor about applying to a Syracuse University online graduate program, request more information and our team will reach out.