What IELTS score do you need for Virginia Tech?

All non-US citizens and non-permanent residents must show English proficiency, and Virginia Tech calls TOEFL or IELTS the most common way. The minimum is IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 4.5 with 4.5 in Listening, Writing, Speaking and Reading; for TOEFL taken before 21 January 2026 it is 90 overall and 20 per section. Duolingo and PTE are not mentioned on the Graduate School page, and the Food Science and Technology page says Virginia Tech will only accept TOEFL or IELTS. Send scores with ETS code 5859. See testing requirements.

Some departments ask more. Electrical and Computer Engineering recommends TOEFL 96–97 or IELTS 7.5 for its MS, while the MS in Data Science asks TOEFL 90 or IELTS 6.5 (Data Science admissions). Graduate teaching assistants are expected to have TOEFL Speaking 5 or higher. Applicants who meet everything except English can apply to the Language and Culture Institute's AdvantageVT-Master's Program in select departments.

The Graduate School publishes no country exemption list. Instead, it waives the requirement for a conferred bachelor's degree from an accredited university where English is the medium of instruction, coded into your application once your transcript shows the degree and English as the medium. That route applies to Indian degrees on the same terms as any other.

Undergraduates may use TOEFL (Special Home Edition included; MyBest, Essentials and ITP Plus are not accepted), IELTS 6.5 with no sub-score below 6.5, PTE 59, Duolingo 115, Cambridge 176, SAT reading and writing 550 or ACT English 24, from the past two years. Four years of English-only secondary school in a listed country such as Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore or the UK removes the requirement; India is not listed. Applicants short on English can enroll at the Language and Culture Institute first. See undergraduate requirements.

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