International students

We have had international students from 30 countries! Albania, Argentina, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Venezuela. LASPAU is a scholarship program that has supported several of our Latin American students.

The campus office of International Education Services (IES) has useful information about student visas and other requirements for international students. The Graduate School also has special information for international applicants.

If you wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship you must take (in addition to the TOEFL and Test of Written English) the Test of Spoken English. Upon arrival here you will also have to take the Maryland English Institute evaluation of oral communication skills. If you do not score above 50 on the TSE it is unlikely you will pass the MEI evaluation, which you must pass before you can be offered a Teaching Assistant position. These University rules place our small program in a bind, because we don't have the funds to support an international student who has been offered a TA position but then is found unqualified because of language problems. So unless your performance on the TSE is outstanding it is very unlikely we would be able to offer you a TA position before you arrive. We have, however, sometimes found it possible to offer teaching assistantships to international students after their first semester, or occasionally for their first semester if their English abilities are good and there is an open position at the end of August.

Application deadlines:

International Applicants:
Applicants seeking admission under F (Student) or J (Exchange Visitor) visas must meet the following deadlines for submitting applications and academic credentials:

Fall - February 1 of prior academic year (unless the graduate program in which you are interested sets an earlier deadline).

Spring - June 1 of prior academic year (unless the graduate program in which you are interested sets an earlier deadline).

Applicants seeking admission under A, E, G, H, I, and L visas and immigrants and U.S. citizens with foreign credentials, must adhere to the following deadlines:

Fall - May 1 of prior academic year (unless the graduate program in which you are interested sets an earlier deadline).

Spring - October 1 of prior academic year (unless the graduate program in which you are interested sets an earlier deadline).