New Mexico State University

Undergraduate Admission

International students are subject to the same admissions standards as all other NMSU students, but some additional requirements apply. This section addresses those additional requirements.  Visit https://isss.nmsu.edu/ for more information. 

Undergraduate – New

• GPA requirement of 2.75 or higher 
• Minimum TOEFL of 68 iBT, or 6.0 IELTS, or Duolingo 95 or higher 
• Secondary school equivalency with a minimum 2.75 GPA or ACT composite score of 21 or SAT score of 1060 or Ranked in the top 20 percent of their high school graduating class or a GED cumulative score of 480 or HiSET cumulative score of 45.  

Undergraduate – Transfer

• 00 or better GPA on transfer college or university credits. 
• Students transferring from a two-year college, community college, or university in the United States who have earned a minimum of 30 acceptable semester credits (45 acceptable quarter credits) with a GPA of 2.0 or better (acceptable credit means classes that require a high proficiency in both written and oral English). 

English Language Proficiency Requirements

For undergraduate admission to the university, NMSU requires a score of 68 (internet-based) or better on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a score of 6.0 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or a score of 95 on the Duolingo English Test (DET) for international students for both non-degree and degree seeking. International students attending another US institution and having a valid I-20 may enroll as a non-degree seeking student and take course(s) at the undergraduate level. 

Students who are citizens from one of the following countries will be exempt from providing a TOEFL, IELTS, or DET score for admission purposes. NMSU requires all admitted international students to take the English Language Placement Test (ELPT) for placement purposes. 

Anguilla, Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, Caicos Islands, Cameroon (Anglophone), Canada (except Quebec), Cayman Islands, Christmas Islands, Cook Island, Dominica, England, Eritrea, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grand Cayman Islands, Grenada, Grenada and the Grenadines, Guernsey, Guyana, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati Islands, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Montserrat, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, St. Christopher, St. Helena, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Tristan da Cunha Island, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uganda, Virgin Islands, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe

For students not from the countries listed above, a waiver of the TOEFL/IELTS/DET requirement may be considered for: 

1. Students completing high school in the United States who have attended the high school for at least two full years. 
2. Students transferring from an institutional accredited two-year college, community college, or university in the United States who have earned a minimum of 24 semester credits or 36 quarter credits (all classes having English as the language of instruction) with a GPA of 2.0. 
3. The university reserves the right to require any prospective international student to meet the TOEFL, IELTS or DET requirement.

All application material, transcripts, national examination scores, transcripts from colleges or universities (with an English translation), and test scores (including the TOEFL or IELTS) should be sent directly to the NMSU Undergraduate Admissions at admissions@nmsu.edu. Please note that transcripts, test scores, and foreign credential evaluations sent directly from an applicant/student to NMSU will be considered unofficial. To be considered official, transcripts, test scores and foreign credential evaluations must come directly from the school, testing agency, or evaluation agency. All documents should be emailed to admissions@nmsu.edu.  

Foreign Credential Evaluation and Translation

Applications for admission that include the transfer of credits earned at a non-U.S. university must include a professional Foreign Credential Evaluation (FCE) report from a member institution of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) for every transcript from a foreign secondary school and/or post-secondary institution attended. The ISSS department highly recommends that applicants consider using SpanTran for their FCE. NMSU has worked with SpanTran to provide applicants with a clear understanding of which evaluation is needed. SpanTran provides an applicant portal to track and access evaluations. SpanTran is a long-standing member of NACES. For more information, please visit https://spantran.com/web/

Applicants need to obtain official translations from a company or individual recognized as an approved translator in their country or in the US. ISSS highly recommends SpanTran for your translation needs since you can also process the required foreign credit evaluation in one step. Additionally, SpanTran will send an official credit evaluation report directly to NMSU at no extra charge. Please note that the total cost depends on whether you will need additional services like expedited delivery, for example.

To begin your web application for the SpanTran translation and foreign credit evaluation for your transcript, click the following link: https://spanside.secure.force.com/SpantranApplication?Id=945ec224-f79e-4171-8888-8c452728aafb

Study Abroad

If you are attending NMSU as a non-degree seeking student through the Office of Education Abroad, do not apply for Admissions until you have been instructed to do so by the Office of Education Abroad. Failure to do so may result in a delay in your application being processed.

Admission Restrictions 

Admissions to summer terms in not available to new undergraduate international students due to the limited number of face-to-face course offerings. 

Admission Deadlines 

For full consideration for undergraduate admission, applicants are subject to the following deadlines:

You must be able to provide a high school transcript showing your Graduation Date and minimum GPA requirement. Additionally, be prepare to contact all institutions you have previously attended (including high school and other universities) and request that they submit official transcripts to NMSU.

If you are currently in an academic program and expect to graduate, you can apply for admission to NMSU with your partial transcripts. You may be granted tentative admission, but you will have to provide your final official documents to Undergraduate Admissions or the Graduate School as soon as they are available following your graduation or last semester.

For full undergraduate admission to the university, NMSU requires a score of 520 (paper-based) or 68 (internet-based) or better on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or a score of 6.0 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or a score of 95 on the Duolingo English test for all international students both non-degree and degree seeking.

A waiver of the TOEFL/IELTS requirement may be considered for:

1. Students who are native speakers of English.
2. Students from the following countries will be exempt from providing a TOEFL score for admission purposes. However, NMSU retains the right to require the applicant/student to take the English Language Placement Test if deemed necessary:
   1. Anguilla, Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, Caicos Islands, Cameroon (Anglophone), Canada (except Quebec), Cayman Islands, Christmas Islands, Cook Island, Dominica, England, Eritrea, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grand Cayman Islands, Grenada, Grenada and the Grenadines, Guernsey, Guyana, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati Islands, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Montserrat, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, St. Christopher, St. Helena, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Tristan da Cunha Island, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uganda, Virgin Islands, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe
3. Students completing high school in the United States who (a) have attended the high school for at least two full years and (b) have scored in at least the 75th percentile in English on the ACT.
4. Students transferring from a two-year college, community college, or university in the United States who have earned a minimum of 30 acceptable semester credits (45 acceptable quarter credits) with a GPA of 2.0 or better (acceptable credit means classes that require a high proficiency in both written and oral English).
5. Students scoring a 70%---(3) or better in English with the International Baccalaureate.

The university reserves the right to require any prospective international student to meet the Duolingo, TOEFL or IELTS requirement.

If you graduated from a high school in the U.S., you must submit an ACT or SAT score. However, the ACT or SAT requirement is waived for the 2021 Admissions ONLY. See minimum required score below:

• For ACT Composite Score: 21
• For SAT Score: 1060

International Student and Scholar Services highly recommends SpanTran for your foreign credential evaluation needs. One advantage of using SpanTran is that they will send an official report to NMSU at no extra charge, and they offer a customized application for NMSU students. You must use this application to take advantage of the discount offered to NMSU students. Please note that the total cost depends on whether you will need additional services like translation and expedited delivery, for example.

To begin your web application for the SpanTran foreign credit evaluation, click the following link: https://spanside.secure.force.com/SpantranApplication?Id=945ec224-f79e-4171-8888-8c452728aafb

Applicants need to obtain official translations from a company or individual recognized as an approved translator in their country or in the US. ISSS highly recommends SpanTran for your translation needs since you can also process the required foreign credit evaluation in one step. Additionally, SpanTran will send an official credit evaluation report directly to NMSU at no extra charge. Please note that the total cost depends on whether you will need additional services like expedited delivery, for example.

To begin your web application for the SpanTran translation and foreign credit evaluation for your transcript, click the following link: https://spanside.secure.force.com/SpantranApplication?Id=945ec224-f79e-4171-8888-8c452728aafb

Failure to do so may result in a delay in your application being processed.