Admission Status

An applicant may be admitted to a graduate program as a regular or an associate graduate student. Only regular graduate students are candidates for graduate degrees. Students who do not wish to enter a degree program may be admitted as non-degree students; see this link for information on how to apply as a non-degree student. International students must be admitted under regular status for immigration paperwork to be completed. Except for qualified Lehigh undergraduates, only those who have been officially admitted as regular, associate, or non-degree students may register for graduate courses.

Prospective graduate students who do not qualify for regular student status may be offered admission with associate graduate student status. However, since each department's classification and requirements of associate students is different, you must check with the department to determine if you qualify to be admitted under associate status. Associate students must complete the first nine consecutive credit hours with at most one grade below B-. They will not be permitted to continue if they receive a grade below C. After nine credit hours of coursework, associate students must petition for regular status. Individual departments may require more rigorous probationary standard.

Policy of Equality

It is the policy of Lehigh University to provide equal opportunity on the basis of merit and without discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national original citizenship status, handicap, or veteran status.

International Students

International applicants to the Graduate Programs of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science must hold a Bachelor's degree from an accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent foreign degree. Transcripts must be in the original language with an official English translation attached.

English Proficiency

Either the Internet-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Test System) is required for all graduate students whose FIRST language is not English. All international students must show proof of English proficiency to be admitted to Lehigh. The English proficiency requirement may be waived if a student has completed a degree program at a U.S. university within the past two years. A waiver of this requirement will be granted after a review of the submitted online application materials. Applicants should check with the appropriate admission office to verify if they are eligible for a waiver.

The scores below represent minimum individual section and composite TOEFL iBT levels that applicants must attain in order to be admitted to the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Science graduate programs without conditional English enhancement training. Please note that some individual departments or programs may have higher minimum requirements. Applicants should consult with the department or program of interest directly in order to be certain of the requirements that apply to them.

Internet-based TOEFL

Reading — 20

Listening — 15

Speaking — 20

Writing — 20

COMPOSITE — 79

IELTS

Reading — 6.5

Listening —6.0

Speaking —6.5

Writing — 6.0

OVERALL — 6.5

For unconditional admission, applicants MUST:

Obtain or exceed ALL minimum section scores

Obtain or exceed the COMPOSITE/OVERALL minimum score.

Applicants with test scores that do not meet the above minimum requirements can still be considered for admission with conditional English enhancement training required. In such cases applicants should consult with the department or program of interest for more details.

If the TOEFL iBT is currently not available in your home country you may still submit paper-based scores at this time. A minimum score of 550 for paper based scores is required. TOEFL information may be obtained from ETS at ets.org/toefl. Lehigh's institutional code is 2365. IELTS information can be found at ielts.org. Official test scores must be submitted from the testing agencies directly in order for this requirement to be satisfied.