Stony Brook University English Language Program

English Language Requirements

All students who are not native or primary speakers of English must demonstrate proficiency in English to be admitted to the Graduate School. Stony Brook University has established overall minimum English language competency requirements for admission to graduate study and additional, more stringent speak competency requirements for PhD applicants as well as master’s students who serve as Teaching Assistants. Students may be conditionally admitted without meeting some admission requirements, but under no circumstances may students teach in a class or laboratory until they have met Stony Brook University’s speak competency requirements.

A native speaker of English is someone who learned English as a child and uses English as his or her primary language at home. A primary speaker of English may speak a language other than English at home but has developed native fluency as a result of using English exclusively in most social and educational contexts.

All students must declare their native language as part of the admission process. Intentional misrepresentation by a student of his or her native language is academic dishonesty and is grounds for dismissal from the graduate school.

English Proficiency Requirements for Admission

There is no need to submit an English language proficiency test if:

• you hold a degree such as a high school diploma, bachelors, masters, or PhD from an institution where the primary instruction was in English
• you are a US citizen (or US National)
• you served as a Teaching Assistant at an institution where the primary instruction was in English

To be considered for admission, an applicant who is not a native or primary speaker of English or do not qualify to be exempt from a language proficiency exam based on their answers to the application questions listed above, must present a minimum score for either the TOEFL or IELTS tests, as defined below. Students who fail to meet this requirement must enroll in a course at the Intensive English Center (IEC) and achieve satisfactory grades before admission to graduate study. At the request of the program, conditional admission may be offered to students who do not meet minimal language requirements for admission. Note: Students whose scores on either of these tests are more than two years old must retake the test.

• IELTS : Overall score of 6.5, with no subsection recommended to be below 6
• TOEFL iBT : Overall score of 90 for doctoral applicants and 80 for master’s applicants.

English Speaking Proficiency Requirements to Serve as a Teaching Assistant

Supervised college-level teaching is required for the award of any doctoral degree at Stony Brook, and occasionally master’s students serve as teaching assistants. Eligibility for any student serving as a Teaching Assistant is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to speak English proficiently. All prospective Teaching Assistants who are not native or primary speakers of English must achieve a minimum score on the Speaking subsection of the Internet-based TOEFL or IELTS.

All applicants who fail to achieve the minimum score on one of these tests will not be allowed to serve as a Teaching Assistant. This includes all doctoral students and all master’s students who will be assigned as a Teaching Assistant.

Students who will have a teaching role at the University and whose speaking test scores do not meet our minimum standards for teaching will be assigned to an Oral Academic English (OAE) course. NOTE: OAE courses are remedial and cannot be counted toward degree requirements or degree completion from any program.