International Student Admission
Before deciding to attend Northwest, the international student should examine his or her financial situation very carefully. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security - and its related departments of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Student Exchange Visitor Program, and Citizenship and Immigration Services - requires Northwest to certify that international students have been fully accepted in a graduate master’s program for full-time enrollment (degree-seeking) and have sufficient funds to meet all expenses for one academic year: tuition, housing, transportation, etc. Northwest requires a Statement of Support from the student’s family, sponsor, or government. The statement certifies that tuition, room and board, and personal funds are available, and that the student is permitted to export and exchange those funds into the United States. Without this certification, no I-20 form can be issued.
Students entering Northwest are required to have a reading, writing, and conversational knowledge of the English language. If the student’s secondary education was obtained from a non-English speaking school or a school in which the medium of instruction is not English, and that student was hired as a teaching graduate assistant, then he or she is required to meet an English language requirement. Northwest accepts the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Pearson Test of English (PTE).
Minimum score requirements are:
TOEFL: 550 paper and pencil
213 computer based
79-80 Internet based
IELTS: 6.5 overall band score
PTE: 53
International students are required to have an approved health insurance plan. The student is charged for Northwest’s approved plan. If the international student has a health insurance plan before entering the University, they must contact the International Affairs Office within the first two weeks of classes for approval of that policy. If approval is given, then the charge for Northwest’s policy is removed from their bill.
New International Students
To be fully admitted to Northwest, students must submit the following items to the Northwest Office of Admissions, Northwest Missouri State University, 800 University Drive, Maryville, Missouri, 64468-6001, USA. Forms are available by request from the Northwest Office of Admissions or the Graduate Office.
- Complete International Application including supplemental and financial information (requires sponsor signature and notary seal). Application deadlines for programs with the exception of programs in the Department of Behavioral Sciences or the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences are: Fall – July 1, Spring – November 1, Summer – April 1. Geographic Information Science and Applied Computer Science accept new students into the program in Fall and Spring only. See department information for application deadline.
- Official academic transcripts from each secondary and post-secondary institution attended. If students are currently enrolled in a college or university, they should send official partial transcripts. All transcripts become the property of Northwest and cannot be released.
- GMAT (for M.B.A. only) or GRE general test scores when required by program. See specific program for requirements.
- Application fee in U.S. currency. (See “Fees and Costs.”)
- Score report from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Pearson Test of English (PTE). English proficiency scores can be no older than two years when students enroll. Minimum score requirements are:
TOEFL: 550 paper and pencil,
213 computer based,
79-80 Internet based
IELTS: 6.5 overall band score
PTE: 53
- Financial statement from a banking institution to certify that tuition, room and board, and personal funds for one academic year are available. Without this certification, no I-20 form can be issued.
- Copy of passport.
Upon receipt of all these items, international students will be notified of acceptance or denial. The accepted student will receive a completed I-20 form which they must then present to a U.S. Consulate when applying for their student (F-1) visa. Student visas should be obtained before entering the United States, as converting from a tourist visa to a student visa is by no means assured.