Do US Universities Accept PTE for an MS? 2026 List With Scores

US graduate PTE minimums, lowest first

PTE is newer in the US than in the UK or Australia, and some graduate schools still list only TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo. Where a university does take PTE, departments can set a higher score, and some accept only scores sent through Pearson.

How we counted: each figure comes from our own guide to that university, which restates its admissions pages (read 4 to 10 October 2026). We took the lowest graduate PTE Academic overall each guide's tables give; where a table could not be read cleanly the university is left out of the count rather than guessed. The full list, with a CSV, is on our IELTS university requirements data. A course page can ask for more than the university minimum, so check yours before you book.

University	Graduate PTE	Graduate IELTS
University of Nevada, Reno	46	5.5
Kent State University	48	6.0
Seattle University	48	6.0
University of South Alabama	48	6.0
Cleveland State	50	6.0
LIU	50	6.0
Rowan University	50	6.0
University of New Haven	50	6.0
Pace University	52	6.5
Texas State	52	6.5
UMass Dartmouth	52	6.0
Ball State	53	6.5
Binghamton	53	6.5
Bowling Green State	53	6.5
Cal State LA	53	6.0
City College of New York	53	6.5
DePaul University	53	6.5
East Texas A&M	53	6.0
FIU	53	6.5
GWU	53	6.0
Hofstra University	53	6.5
Iowa State	53	6.5
Michigan State	53	6.5
Montclair State	53	6.5
NYIT	53	6.0
Northern Illinois University	53	6.5
Oklahoma State	53	6.5
Old Dominion University	53	6.5
Ole Miss	53	6.0
SIUE	53	6.5
San José State University	53	6.5
South Carolina	53	6.5
TCU	53	6.5
Temple University	53	6.5
UMass Amherst	53	6.5
UMass Boston	53	6.0
UMass Lowell	53	6.5
USF	53	6.5
UTEP	53	6.5
University at Albany	53	6.5
University of Houston	53	6.5
University of New Mexico	53	6.5
University of North Texas	53	6.0
University of Rhode Island	53	6.5
University of South Dakota	53	6.0
West Virginia University	53	6.5
Clemson University	54	6.5
Miami University (Ohio)	54	6.5
Saint Louis University	54	6.5
UIC	54	6.5
University of Cincinnati	54	6.5
Western Michigan University	54	6.5
Florida State	55	6.5
Illinois State University	55	6.5
SMU	55	6.5
University at Buffalo	55	6.5
University of Louisville	55	6.5
Clarkson University	56	6.5
RIT	56	6.5
UAB	56	6.5
University of Tulsa	56	6.5
University of Wyoming	56	6.5
Washington State	56	6.5
NJIT	57	6.5
Wright State	57	6.0
CU Boulder	58	6.5
CU Denver	58	6.5
Cal State East Bay	58	6.5
Cal State Long Beach	58	6.5
Cal State Northridge	58	6.5
Hunter College	58	6.5
Kansas State	58	6.5
Missouri S&T	58	6.5
San Diego State	58	6.5
University of Arkansas	58	6.5
University of Bridgeport	58	6.0
University of Idaho	58	6.5
University of Toledo	58	6.5
Wayne State University	58	6.5
Wichita State	58	6.5
Fordham	59	6.5
LSU	59	6.5
Lamar University	59	6.0
RPI	59	6.5
University of Alabama	59	6.5
University of Memphis	59	6.5
University of Minnesota	59	6.5
University of Missouri	59	6.5
University of New Hampshire	59	6.5
Arizona State University	60	6.5
Portland State	60	6.5
Texas Tech	60	6.5
UConn	60	6.5
University of Arizona	60	7.0
University of Dayton	60	6.5
University of Kansas	60	6.5
University of Oklahoma	60	6.5
Case Western	61	6.5
Drexel	61	6.5
Colorado State	62	6.5
SIU Carbondale	64	6.5
Cal State Fullerton	65	7.0
UC San Diego	65	7.0
UNLV	65	6.5
University of Maine	65	6.5
George Mason University	67	6.5
UT Dallas	67	6.5
American University	68	7.0
Georgetown	68	7.0
University of Iowa	68	7.0
Baruch College	70	7.0

The 57 that do not accept PTE

Our guides record that these universities do not list PTE Academic for at least their main admissions route: Boston University, Brandeis, Brown University, Cal Poly SLO, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia University, Cornell, Duke University, Emory University, Harvard, Illinois Tech, Johns Hopkins, Marquette University, Mississippi State, Nebraska–Lincoln, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Princeton, Purdue, Rice, Santa Clara University, Stanford, Syracuse University, Texas A&M, Tufts, Tulane, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UCF, UCLA, UIUC, UT Arlington, UT Austin, UW–Madison, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Miami, University of Oregon, University of Pittsburgh, University of Rochester, University of Utah, University of Vermont, University of Virginia, University of Washington, Vanderbilt, Villanova, WPI, Wake Forest, WashU, Yale. For these, take IELTS, TOEFL or (where accepted) Duolingo.

Before you book PTE for the US, check every university on your list. If even one refuses PTE, IELTS may be the cheaper single test: in India PTE costs INR 18,900 and IELTS INR 19,000 (PTE fee in India). Try both formats with a free PTE mock test and a free IELTS mock test.

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Practise before you book: free PTE mock test, PTE predictions, PTE Core practice test and PTE to IELTS converter.

Frequently asked questions

Do US universities accept PTE for an MS?+

Most do: 143 of the 206 US universities in our data accept PTE Academic, and 57 do not.

What PTE score do US universities need?+

53 is the most common graduate minimum in our data (35 universities); selective programs ask 65 to 70.

Is PTE 58 enough for a US master's?+

At 80 universities in our data, 58 or lower meets the graduate minimum for at least some programs.

Which US universities do not accept PTE?+

Our guides list Boston University, Brandeis, Brown University, Cal Poly SLO, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon and 51 others; the full list is on this page.

Keep reading

Verified against the linked official sources on 10 October 2026. Rules change: confirm on the official page before you book or apply.

© 2026 BandLadder. Written and checked by the BandLadder team. You may quote or cite this page with credit to BandLadder and a link to it; republishing it in full needs our written permission. Content use policy

Do US universities accept PTE for a master's, and what PTE score do I need?

US graduate PTE minimums, lowest first

The 57 that do not accept PTE

Frequently asked questions

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