Concordia College

English Proficiency

One of the most important factors affecting your success in college in the United States is the ability to communicate in English. While we have academic support that is available to all students, we do not operate an ESL program nor have specific ESL support for students. We therefore require all students not from recognized English speaking countries adequately demonstrate English proficiency as part of the application process.  This must be done before you can be accepted. It is not possible to come here first and then demonstrate English proficiency.

IELTS and TOEFL Testing
Most students demonstrate English proficiency using one of two tests. We prefer the IELTS test and require an overall band score of 6.0 or higher. If you take the IELTS test, please request that the official test score be sent to us. If you let us know your Test Report Form (TRF) number, we can check your result online.

We also accept the TOEFL test and require a score of 73 or higher on the Internet based test, 200 or higher with an essay of 4.0 or better on the computer based test, or a score of 533 or higher with an essay of 4.0 or better on the paper test. If you take the TOEFL test, please ask that your official results be sent to Concordia using our TOEFL school code of 6113.

Recognized English-Speaking Countries
The list of recognized English speaking countries we use is prepared by the University of Minnesota and includes only these countries:

• From Norway
• SAT I critical reading score in the 70th percentile or better
• SAT II writing test score in the 70th percentile or better
• IB student taking English A-1 HL or SL with a final score of 5 or higher
• From Zimbabwe – We follow the recommendation of the educational adviser in Zimbabwe
• Successfully completed level 112 at an ELS Language Center
• Successfully complete course 109 at YBM Si-sa Education
• A pass or first-class pass at Expert or Mastery level of City and Guilds IESOL
• Successfully passed grade one of the Japanese S.T.E.P test in Practical English Proficiency (Eiken)