International
Graduate Admissions
Application Requirements
Applicants from countries other than the United States are required
by the university to submit evidence of adequate financial resources
to support them during their period of study. This may include any combination
of personal or family funds, governmental or institutional support,
and aid offered by the department to which the applicant is seeking
admission.
Applicants from countries where English is not the primary language
are required to present evidence of English language proficiency. Typically,
that evidence is the applicant's score on the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) taken within two years of the proposed term of entry.
The Department of Speech Communication will consider applicants with
scores of 600 or higher on the paper-based test, or 250 or higher on
the computer-based test. Students admitted with TOEFL scores of 607
or below (253 for the computer test), are required to take an English
Placement Test upon arrival, and may be required to take one or more
courses in the Division of English as an International Language to improve
their English proficiency.
Departmental Financial Aid
The department's primary source of financial assistance for its graduate
students is teaching assistantships in such courses as introductory
public speaking. Teaching such classes requires a deep familiarity with
American culture and, especially, with norms and patterns of communication
embedded in that culture. Consequently, teaching assistantships are
not offered to applicants who are not native speakers of English, before
they have spent sufficient time in this country to become well acquainted
with American culture.
International students who believe they have the requisite language
skills and cultural knowledge for teaching communication courses to
a largely American student body may ask to be considered for teaching
assistantships. To be considered, such students must provide evidence
of proficiency in oral English. One form of evidence is attainment of
a high score on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) administered by the
Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey 08541-6155. This
requirement is in addition to the TOEFL score which is required for
admission. TOEFL and TSE information is available on-line at: http://www.toefl.org
