What IELTS score do you need for Iowa State University?

Nonnative speakers of English meet the admission requirement with official TOEFL, IELTS, PTE or Duolingo scores, or with a degree from a country where English is the only official language. Both the Graduate College minimum and your program's own minimum must be met. TOEFL goes to code 6306; IELTS and PTE results go directly from the testing agency. See English requirements.

Admitted nonnative speakers then take the English Placement Test at the start of the first semester, free of charge. Anyone who does not pass is placed in ENGL 990 or ENGL 1010 courses, to be finished in the first year. International teaching assistants have a separate speaking requirement, with English for Teaching courses for scores such as IELTS Speaking 6.5 or below.

A bachelor's, master's or doctorate from an English-medium institution in a listed English-speaking country can satisfy the requirement. The list includes Australia, Canada, Ghana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore and the UK; India is not on it.

Undergraduates can use TOEFL 71 (Speaking and Writing 17) or 4.0 from 21 January 2026, IELTS 6.0 with all subscores 5.5, Duolingo 105, PTE 48, SAT reading and writing 460, ACT English 19, IB English 5, or set AP and IGCSE results. IELTS One Skill Retake and TOEFL MyBest are not accepted. Native English speakers living where English is a primary official language, US high school graduates and some US college English courses are exempt. See the undergraduate requirement.

The US F-1 student visa sets no English test score of its own. What counts is the requirement Iowa State 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 Iowa State Graduate College English requirements page again before you book a test, and check your own program page, which can set a higher bar.