International applicants

International applicants must meet a few other requirements in addition to the nursing graduate certificate application requirements. These requirements ensure your success in clinical placements and the overall graduate certificate.

Proof of English Proficiency

Non-native English speakers must provide proof of English language proficiency set by the UW School of Nursing. You can waive this requirement only if you either:

  1. have received a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree from a regionally-accredited school in the United States, or from a school in the following countries:
    • Australia
    • The Bahamas
    • Canada
    • Ireland
    • Jamaica
    • Kenya
    • New Zealand
    • Singapore
    • Trinidad and Tobago
    • United Kingdom; or
  2. provide official documentation from your undergraduate degree-granting institution (if the institution is in a country not listed in #1 above) verifying that all instruction is in English. Acceptable documentation must be one of the following:
    • Official or attested letter from the undergraduate college, university registrar, or Controller of Examinations office
    • Official transcripts, attested mark sheets, or degree statements if English is stated as the medium of instruction

For questions about whether you can waive this requirement, please contact the School of Nursing.

English Proficiency Scores

Submit two scores, one from each category below (scores must be from within the past two years):

  • 1 general minimum English proficiency score, and
  • 1 speaking only score
Minimum General Score: Reading/Writing/Comprehension
Minimum Spoken English Score
TOEFLiBT 92 TOEFLiBT (speaking only) 26
TOEFLC 237 Versant English Test 70
Duolingo* 120 TSE 55

*Duolingo scores will be accepted through the autumn 2023 admissions cycle (i.e., students enrolling in autumn 2023)

Active Washington State RN Licensure

Graduate certificate applicants must have an active, unrestricted Washington State RN license to begin study.

If you do not have a U.S. RN license

To become licensed as an RN in Washington State, nurses educated outside of the U.S. should refer to the Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission’s Registered Nurse license application process (educated outside of the United States).

This process will determine if you are eligible to take the RN licensing exam, National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN), here in Washington State. You must successfully pass the NCLEX-RN exam to receive RN licensure.

If you live in Washington State, the Puget Sound Welcome Back Center at Highline Community College helps foreign-trained nurses get credentialed in Washington State.

You may also get a registered nursing license in another state in the U.S. and then transfer that license to Washington State through the process described below.

If you have a U.S. RN license in a state other than Washington

If you are already licensed in another state in the U.S., Washington State will allow you to apply for a RN license through a process called Registered Nurse License by Endorsement.

Graduate certificate applicants must be currently licensed in a state in the U.S. in order to be eligible to apply. If you are admitted to the graduate certificate program, you are required to have a RN license in Washington State to begin the program.

Transcript Evaluations

You must send foreign transcript evaluations from an approved evaluation service for any college or university you have attended outside the United States.

Send official foreign transcripts to one of the evaluation services listed below for a course-by-course U.S. equivalency report. Have the evaluation reports sent to you. Your application will include:

  1. Original foreign transcripts with English translations (if applicable; include in the Report Prior Schools section of your UW MyGrad application)
  2. Transcript evaluation reports (upload to the Credential/Transcript Evaluations section of your UW MyGrad application)

You do not need to submit a foreign transcript if you attended a foreign university through a study abroad program and the credits appear on your school’s transcript, but you must submit a foreign transcript and evaluation if you are using a course taken internationally as a prerequisite course.

Approved Transcript Evaluation Services

American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)

Foreign Education Credential Services
One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 520
Washington DC 20036-1135
Phone: 202.296.3359
Website: http://www.aacrao.org

Center for Educational Documentation

P.O. Box 170116
Boston, MA 02117
Phone: 617.338.7171
Website: http://www.cedevaluations.com

Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.

P.O. Box 514070
Milwaukee, WI 53203-3470
Phone: 414.289.3400|
Website: https://www.ece.org/

Education Evaluators International, Inc.

11 South Angell Street, #348
Providence, RI 02906
Phone: 401.521.5340
Fax: 401.437.6474
Website: http://www.educei.com
Email: eval@educei.com

Foreign Credentials Service of America

1910 Justin Lane
Austin, TX 78757-2411
Phone: 512.459.4565
Website: http://www.foreigncredentials.org/

International Education Evaluations, Inc.

7900 Matthews Mint Hill Rd., Suite 300
Charlotte, NC 28227
Phone: 704.772.0109
Website: http://www.foreigntranscripts.com/

International Education Research Foundation, Inc.

P.O. Box 3665
Culver City, CA 90231-3665
Phone: 310.258.9451
Fax: 310.342.7086
Website: http://www.ierf.org

Josef Silny & Associates, Inc.

7101 SW 102nd Avenue
Miami, Florida 33173
Phone: 305.273.1616
Fax: 305.273.1338
Website: http://www.jsilny.org

Spantran: The Evaluation Company

2400 Augusta Drive, Suite 451
Houston, TX 77057
Phone: 713.266.8805
Website: http://www.spantran.com/

World Education Services, Inc.

P.O. Box 5087
New York, NY 10274-5087
Phone: 212.966.6311
Fax: 212.739.6100
Website: http://www.wes.org