For any undergraduate program of study at UMBC, students must be able to speak, read and write in English. For incoming international students, the TOEFL serves to determine an individual's English proficiency. For general admission, students must score higher than 48 on the Internet-based TOEFL, a 460 on the paper TOEFL or a 140 on the computer-based TOEFL. However, if students have attended any university in the United States and have successfully finished English Composition, no TOEFL score is required.
If a student's score falls below the recommended levels, that student may enroll in the English Language Center (ELC) at UMBC. The ELC offers five different levels of English instruction and provides training for students interested in English for career advancement. Taking the TOEFL is not required to enter the ELC; students take an entrance exam upon starting the ELC and are placed according to the results. The TOEFL is also not required after the ELC program is completed.
While a TOEFL score is not required for undergraduate studies at UMBC, a TOEFL score is required for non-native English speaking students applying for graduate studies. All students must be able to read, write, understand and speak the English language, so non-native English speakers must prove English proficiency by taking the TOEFL. Students who have an undergraduate degree from a college or university in the United States, however, are not required to take the TOEFL.
For the paper TOEFL, a score of 550 or better is required for admittance to the graduate school. For the computer-based TOEFL, a score of 213 or better is required for admittance. Any student taking the Internet-based TOEFL, or iBT, must score an 80 or better. Individual departments and graduate programs may require a higher score; the previous scores are the minimum.
TOEFL scores must come from the previous two years, and students must send the TOEFL to UMBC by entering the institution's code, 5835, on the TOEFL exam. Any TOEFL results from another university, college program or test company besides ETS will not be accepted. All TOEFL scores must come from ETS-administered tests.