English Proficiency Requirements

All English as Second Language (ESL) applicants are required to meet a minimum standard of English proficiency for admission. Academic programs use one or more of the following methods for determining English proficiency. **Please contact your program to verify which method(s) they allow.**

• You have received or will receive a post-secondary degree in the United States.
• You have received or will receive a post-secondary degree where English is the language (medium) of instruction. If the language of instruction is English, but not noted on the transcript, students may be asked to submit an official letter from their post-secondary institution stating that the medium of instruction is English in order to meet the English Language Proficiency requirement.
• You take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or an International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Duolingo, or another approved English proficiency test and receive a score that is equal to or higher than your program’s requirements.  Tests must have been taken in the last two years. See the Summary of Program Requirements chart below. Please use code 4874 to have TOEFL or IELTS scores sent to UCCS.
• You successfully complete an English language training program approved by UCCS.
• Your program of choice has developed other approved criteria that you meet.
  Please contact your program to discuss alternative approved criteria.
  • Program contact information can be found here
• Citizenship from one of the following countries where the first/official language is English:
  • Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Canada (except Quebec), Cayman Islands, Dominica, England, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland (Northern), Ireland (Republic of), Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Seychelles,  Sierra Leone, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe