English Proficiency Requirements by Country

 

NOTE: Regardless of US residency status, an English proficiency examination is required of all students whose secondary schooling has been outside the US in a country where English is not the principal language. Students who have achieved a grade of B or better in a college-level English Composition course in residence at an accredited US college (not a foreign affiliate) are exempt from this requirement. English courses that are designated ESL, non-native, or which require a special support component, as well as courses taken outside the US, are not acceptable. Please also note that Rutgers University does not accept any correspondence courses.

Country	Required		Official Language
	Yes	No
Afghanistan	x		Dari
Albania	x		Albanian
Algeria	x		Arabic
Andorra	x		Catalan
Angola	x		Portuguese
Antigua & Barbuda		x	English
Argentina	x		Spanish
Armenia	x		Armenian
Aruba	x		Dutch
Australia		x	English
Austria	x		German
Azerbaijan	x		Azerbaijani
Bahamas		x	English
Bahrain	x		Arabic
Bangladesh	x		Bengali/Bangla
Barbados		x	English
Belarus	x		Belarusian, Russian
Belgium	x		Dutch, French, German
Belize		x	English
Benin	x		French
Bermuda		x	English
Bhutan	x		Dzongka
Bolivia	x		Spanish
Bosnia & Herzegovina	x		Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Botswana		x	English
Brazil	x		Portuguese
Brunei Darassalam	x		Malay
Bulgaria	x		Bulgarian
Burkino Faso	x		French
Burma	x		Burmese
Burundi	x		Kirundi/French
Cambodia	x		Khmer
Cameroon	x		French, English
Canada		x	English, French
Cape Verde	x		Portuguese
Cayman Islands		x	English
Central African Republic	x		French
Chad	x		French, Arabic
Chile	x		Spanish
China	x		Mandarin Chinese
Colombia	x		Spanish
Comoros	x		Shikomoro, Arabic, French
Congo, Democratic Republic of	x		French
Congo, Republic of	x		French
Costa Rica	x		Spanish
Cote d’Ivoire	x		French
Croatia	x		Croatian
Cuba	x		Spanish
Cyprus	x		Greek, Turkish, English
Czech Republic	x		Czech
Denmark	x		Danish
Djibouti	x		French, Arabic
Dominica		x	English
Dominican Republic	x		Spanish
East Timor	x		Portuguese
Ecuador	x		Spanish
Egypt	x		Arabic
El Salvador	x		Spanish
Equatorial Guinea	x		Spanish
Eritrea	x		Tigrinya, Tigre
Estonia	x		Estonian
Ethiopia	x		Amharic
Fiji		x	English
Finland	x		Finnish
France	x		French
Gabon	x		French
Gambia		x	English
Georgia	x		Georgian
Germany	x		German
Ghana		x	English
Greece	x		Greek
Grenada		x	English
Guatemala	x		Spanish
Guinea	x		French
Guinea-Bissau	x		Portuguese
Guyana		x	English
Haiti	x		French
Holy See, The	x		Italian
Honduras	x		Spanish
Hong Kong	x		Cantonese
Hungary	x		Hungarian (Magyar)
Iceland	x		Icelandic
India	x		Hindi
Indonesia	x		Indonesian
Iran	x		Persian
Iraq	x		Arabic
Ireland		x	English
Israel	x		Hebrew
Italy	x		Italian
Jamaica		x	English
Japan	x		Japanese
Jordan	x		Arabic
Kazakhstan	x		Kazakh/Russian
Kenya		x	English
Kiribati		x	English
Kuwait	x		Arabic
Kyrgyzstan	x		Kyrgyz, Russian
Laos	x		Lao
Latvia	x		Latvian
Lebanon	x		Arabic
Lesotho	x		Sesotho, English
Liberia		x	English
Libya	x		Arabic
Liechtenstein	x		German
Lithuania	x		Lithuanian
Luxembourg	x		Luxembourgish, French, German
Macau	x		Portuguese, Chinese
Macedonia	x		Macedonian
Madagascar	x		Malagasy
Malawi		x	English
Malaysia	x		Malay
Maldives	x		Dhivehi
Mali	x		French
Malta	x		Maltese
Marshall Islands	x		Marshallese
Mauritania	x		Arabic
Mexico	x		Spanish
Mauritius	x		French, English
Micronesia		x	English
Moldova	x		Romanian
Mongolia	x		Khalkha Mongol
Monoco	x		French
Morocco	x		Arabic
Montenegro	x		Montenegrin
Mozambique	x		Portuguese
Namibia		x	English
Nauru	x		Nauruan, English
Nepal	x		Nepali
Netherlands	x		Dutch
Netherlands Antilles	x		Dutch
New Zealand		x	English
Nicaragua	x		Spanish
Niger	x		French
Nigeria		x	English
North Korea	x		Korean
Norway	x		Norwegian
Oman	x		Arabic
Pakistan	x		Urdu
Palau		x	English
Panama	x		Spanish
Papua New Guinea		x	English
Paraguay	x		Spanish
Peru	x		Spanish
Philippines	x		Pilipino
Poland	x		Polish
Portugal	x		Portuguese
Qatar	x		Arabic
Romania	x		Romanian
Russia	x		Russian
Rwanda	x		Kinyarunda, French, English
Samoa	x		Samoan, English
San Marino	x		Italian
Sao Tome and Principe	x		Portuguese
Saudi Arabia	x		Arabic
Senegal	x		French
Serbia	x		Serbian
Seychelles	x		Creole, English & French
Sierra Leone		x	English
Singapore		x	English
Slovakia	x		Slovak
Slovenia	x		Slovenia
Solomon Islands		x	English
Somalia	x		Somali
South Africa		x	Afrikaans, English
South Korea	x		Korean
Spain	x		Spanish
Sri Lanka	x		Sinhala, Tamil
St Kitts & Nevis		x	English
St Lucia		x	English
St Vincent & the Grenadines		x	English
Sudan	x		Arabic
Suriname	x		Dutch
Swaziland	x		Siswati, English
Sweden	x		Swedish
Switzerland	x		German, French, Italian, Romansch
Syria	x		Arabic
Taiwan	x		Mandarin Chinese
Tajikistan	x		Tajik
Tanzania	x		Kiswahili
Thailand	x		Thai
Togo	x		French
Tonga	x		Tongan, English
Trinidad & Tobago		x	English
Tunisia	x		Arabic
Turkey	x		Turkish
Turkmenistan	x		Turkmen
Tuvalu	x		Tuvuluan, English
Uganda		x	English
Ukraine	x		Ukrainian
United Arab Emirates	x		Arabic
United Kingdom		x	English
Uruguay	x		Spanish
Uzbekistan	x		Uzbek
Vanuatu	x		Bislama, English
Venezuela	x		Spanish
Vietnam	x		Vietnamese
Yemen	x		Arabic
Zambia		x	English
Zimbabwe		x	English

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