What IELTS score do you need for Oakland University?

For graduate admission you need TOEFL iBT 79 (MyBest accepted), IELTS 6.5, PTE Academic 53 or Duolingo 105, or a bachelor's or graduate degree from a regionally accredited US institution, or a bachelor's or graduate degree from an institution outside the US where the language of instruction was English. That last route does not depend on your country, so an English-medium degree from India, Pakistan, Nepal or Bangladesh can meet the requirement. See graduate international admission requirements.

Some programs require a higher level of proficiency, so check your program description. Citizens of listed countries where English is the official language and the language of higher education, such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa and the UK, are exempt from the test.

Academically qualified applicants with TOEFL 69–78, IELTS 6 or PTE 48–52 can be admitted with limited standing. You then take an ESL course sequence set by the ESL Institute alongside your program courses from the first semester, and are expected to finish it within one year; students who do not progress are denied full admission. Applicants below these scores can apply directly to the ESL Institute's Intensive English Program.

Undergraduates need TOEFL iBT 79 (4.5 for tests from 21 January 2026), IELTS 6.5, PTE Academic 53 or Duolingo 100. Completing a high school diploma at an institution outside the US where English was the language of instruction also meets the requirement, as do 24 transferable US credits or ELS Level 112. See international undergraduate admission.

The US F-1 student visa sets no English test score of its own. What counts is the requirement Oakland University sets for admission, which leads to your Form I-20. For the wider picture of studying in the US with each test, see IELTS for the USA and PTE for the USA.

Requirements change between admission cycles. Check the Oakland University graduate international admission page again before you book a test, and check your own program page, which can set a higher bar.