Resolution on Acceptance of IELTS in Lieu of TOEFL for International Students

California State University Dominguez Hills

Academic Senate Resolution

EPC 08-04

Resolution on Acceptance of Tests and Scores for International Students

MSP/March 19, 2008

Whereas:The (International English Language Testing System)IELTS is widely used for admission of international students at other institutions, including most other CSU campuses, and

Whereas:The IELTS, which is widely available to international students, involves a face-to-face interview with a trained observer, and gives a thorough picture of the students’ speaking, listening, reading, writing, and comprehension skills, and

Whereas:The present Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score for undergraduate admissions at CSUDH is higher than most comparable CSU campuses, therefore be it

Resolved:That CSUDH accept either the IELTS or the TOEFL for admission of international students, and be it further

Resolved:That the minimum undergraduate TOEFL score required for admission be changed to 500 on the TEOFL paper or 61 on the Internet Based TOEFL (TOEFL IBT), and be it further

Resolved:That the minimum IELTS score for undergraduate admission be 5.5, and the minimum IELTS score for graduate admission be 6.5.

Rationale:

1)Many public and private universities have approved the IELTS option in order to increase their applicant pool size and reduce the need for students to do duplicate testing.

2)At least 13 other CSU campuses accept the IELTS as an alternative to the TOEFL. The IELTS test is widely accepted by other English speaking countries and by approximately 1300 institutions in the United States.

3)Many international students find the IELTS test cheaper and more readily available in their countries. (Availability of the TOEFL is a frequent complaint among international students).

4)International students have found the TOEFL IBT conversation section problematic as the student does not interact with a real person. By contrast the IELTS uses an actual person trained to evaluate students’ oral skills.

5)The TOEFL is moving increasingly from paper-based to computer-based testing. Unfortunately such testing is not always reliable in certain countries.

6)Many schools and students feel that the TOEFL is a poor indicator of actual in class performance.