English Language Proficiency Exam Results

If your native language (mother tongue) not English, you are required to submit an official score report from the TOEFL, IELTS, or the Duolingo English Test.

The only exceptions are for:

1. students who have worked or studied for five or more years in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, and/or Zambia.
2. students who have earned (or will earn) their bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited US school. This exception requires that the student studied (or will study) for 4 academic years of their undergraduate education in the United States. Students who qualify for this waiver are encouraged to upload an unofficial copy of the English Language Proficiency exam score report they used when they applied to their undergraduate institution as part of their application to Heinz College.

If required, the test scores must be reported directly to Heinz College by the testing service. We strongly recommend that you take the test at least one month prior to the application deadline. 

You may submit scores from up to four valid exam dates. If you have taken any of the exams more than once, Heinz College will use the highest score verified in each section in reviewing your application for admission.  

For every score you want to include with your application, you must report the exam date(s) on the application. Please also include as much additional information as possible for each date listed, including TOEFL exam registration number or IELTS TRF number (this information helps us verify your scores more quickly). If you do not yet know your scores, you may leave them blank on the application. We will not accept exam scores for test dates that are not listed on the application. You must also have your official scores submitted to us as described below. 

Please review the following step-by-step instructions on how to submit your official English Language Proficiency Exam Results from the testing service to Heinz College. All scores reported on your application must be submitted to us by the testing service to allow us to verify the scores. Applications without verified scores will not be reviewed.

If you completed either the TOEFL or IELTS more than two years ago, you MUST take one of the tests again. The testing agency will not verify scores that are more than two years old.

We will only be able to accept scores from the Duolingo English Test using the 160 point scale with subsection scores included. 

If your score is below the minimum on the chosen language proficiency exam, you should consider retaking the exam of your choice before applying. Carnegie Mellon University and Heinz College will not issue an I-20 to any individual with scores below our published minimums.

We verify all exam scores electronically after reported to us by the testing service. Please do not have paper test scores sent to us by mail.