INTERNATIONAL APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS

A. GENERAL
It is highly recommended that international students apply one year prior to the start of the program.

B. LICENSURE
1. You are required to submit a copy of your current active nursing license.

2. All master’s students are required to have a Pennsylvania Registered Nursing License. Therefore, when you submit an application you will be required to provide a copy of a current Pennsylvania Registered Nursing License.

Please review the information below on obtaining a Pennsylvania Registered Nursing License:
1. Complete the CGFNS Certification Program. Visit Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools at www.cgfns.org for details.

2. Please visit the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing web site (by clicking here) for details on Licensure by Examination for Internationally Educated Registered Nurses.

Note: Obtaining a Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing RN license is independent of your admissions application. All questions regarding the licensure process should be directed to the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools at www.cgfns.org.

Completing the NCLEX® in another state:
Please review the requirements to obtain a Pennsylvania Registered Nursing License by clicking here. See Item 6: Licensure by Endorsement With Temporary Practice Permit.

C. TRANSCRIPT EVALUATION
International applicants are required to submit either

CGFNS Credentials Evaluation Service
Full Education Course-by-Course Report
Purpose: Academic
www.cgfns.org
OR
WES ICAP: International Credential Advantage Package
www.wes.org

Note: Credentials evaluation for academic purposes is a separate application from the Certificate Program for Licensure. Both are required.
Applications will not be reviewed until Penn Nursing receives official copy of the CGFNS Credentials Evaluation Service Report for Academics or WES ICAP: International Credential Advantage Package.

Official copies of the report must be sent directly to:
Enrollment Coordinator
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Claire M. Fagin Hall, Admissions Suite M05
418 Curie Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4217
USA

D. STANDARDIZED TESTING

GRE
Results from the GRE general exam (www.gre.org) taken within the last five years, regardless of BSN GPA.
a). Competitive applicants are expected to score about 153 on the verbal and 144 on the quantitative sections of the GRE and 4.0 on the analytical writing section.
b). Applicants who have completed their BSN degrees in the United States, and who are non-native English speakers, may be eligible for the GRE waiver.

TOEFL or IELTS
Results from the TOEFL (www.toefl.org) or IELTS (www.ielts.org) taken within the last two years for all non-native English speakers, regardless of where BSN degrees are from.
a). A minimum score of 100 on the TOEFL is required. The expected breakdown is as follows: Reading, 26; Listening, 26; Speaking 23 (26 is preferred); Writing, 25.
b). A minimum combined score of 7.0 on the IELTS is required. We expect each subsection to have scores of at least 7.0.

E. OTHER
Support services for international students are available through the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of International Programs.