International applicants

• Transfer applicants
• Post-baccalaureate applicants

International applicants include any F-1 student visa or temporary, non-immigrant visa.

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 where English is the medium of instruction, or from a school in the following countries where English is the medium of instruction and, while enrolled, were in residence on campus:
   • Australia
   • The Bahamas
   • Canada
   • Ireland
   • Jamaica
   • Kenya
   • New Zealand
   • Singapore
   • South Africa
   • 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

DNP and advanced practice certificate applicants

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

MS, PhD, Advanced Practice Environmental & Occupational Health certificate, and Population Health Nursing certificate applicants

Submit one score for General English Proficiency (score must be from within the past two years).

If you do not successfully complete the English proficiency requirements, you cannot continue enrollment as a graduate student.

If you have attended any college or university outside the United States, you must submit a foreign transcript evaluation through World Education Services (WES) using the International Credential Advantage Package (ICAP).

Important guidelines

• Request Early: WES is currently experiencing processing delays. Evaluations may take up to 6 weeks, so request your evaluation well in advance to ensure it is completed and ready to upload by the application deadline.
• Evaluation Type: Request a course-by-course U.S. equivalency report.
• How to Submit:
  1. Send your official foreign transcripts directly to WES.
  2. Have the completed WES evaluation sent to you (do not send the evaluation to the UW School of Nursing).
  3. Upload the WES evaluation to your online School of Nursing application. Only the completed WES evaluation should be uploaded to your application.
• Required for All International Coursework: A course-by-course evaluation is mandatory for each institution attended outside the U.S., unless it is part of a study abroad program and credit shows on your home university transcript. Applications will not be considered complete without this documentation.

If you cannot get a WES evaluation

If you are unable to get a WES evaluation, contact us as soon as possible at asknursing@uw.edu to discuss acceptable alternative evaluation services.

You must send foreign transcript evaluations for any college or university you have attended outside the United States. To meet UW Graduate School requirements, this must be done through World Education Services (WES) International Credential Advantage Package (ICAP).

• WES is experiencing delays in the completion and distribution of evaluation reports, and it may take up to 6 weeks for processing, so please request your evaluation(s) in a timely manner to ensure it is received to be uploaded to your application by the deadline.
• If you are unable to obtain a WES evaluation, reach out to us at asknursing@uw.edu for alternative evaluations we may accept in place of the WES.

The UW Graduate School does not accept WES Basic or any other credential evaluations. For more information, review the UW Graduate School Official Transcript Requirements page.

Send official foreign transcripts to WES 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.

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 can take the RN licensing exam, the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN), here in the state of Washington. 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 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.

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