Program Admission

Unconditional admission into the Master of Arts in Second Language Acquisition, Policy, and Culture program will be contingent on the following factors:

• Admission to Graduate Studies.
• A bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree (or equivalent) from an accredited institution. Although applicants do not need to hold an undergraduate degree in an area of languages, preference will be given to applicants with an educational background in languages or related academic or professional disciplines.
• An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (or equivalent).
• For international students, a score of at least 79 on the TOEFL iBT test or a score of at least 550 on the TOEFL PBT test.

Applicants not meeting the criteria for unconditional admittance may be conditionally admitted, if space is available. These applicants will receive preference on the basis of GPA and the quality of application materials.

Foreign students may complete an intensive English course before being admitted to the graduate program.

Application Materials

The following admission materials must be submitted to the Graduate Studies office to be deemed eligible for graduate study at USI:

• A completed Graduate Studies application
• Non-refundable $40 application fee
• Official transcripts from every attended university or college
• International students may be required to provide additional materials 
• Detailed information can be found on the Graduate Studies website

The following materials should be submitted to the World Languages and Cultures department:

• A well-written letter of intent. The letter of intent will serve as the prospective student's application letter and writing sample. In this writing sample, the admissions committee will evaluate the student's potential and ability for graduate-level writing.
• Three positive professional letters of recommendation.

Please email the letter of intent directly to the program director and request that letters of recommendation be emailed directly to the program director.

Applications are processed as they are received.

Conditional Admission
Conditionally admitted individuals can achieve unconditional status following 12 hours of coursework, if they hold a graduate GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Academic Dismissal
All students admitted to the program failing to attain a graduate GPA of 3.0 after 12 credit hours will be academically dismissed from the program.