Only students with full English proficiency can be admitted to UWM at Waukesha or UWM at Washington County, as no foundation level courses are offered there.
Test Scores for English Proficiency Requirement (for Bachelor’s Degree Programs)
| Full Admission | Full Admission Foundation 1 | Full Admission Foundation 2 | Full Admission Foundation 3 | Conditional Admission | |
| TOEFL IBT (not Home Edition) | 79 or higher | 74-78 | 69-73 | 65-68 | No score or less than 65 |
| TOEFL PBT | 548 or higher | 536-546 | 523-534 | 513-520 | No score or 310-512 |
| IELTS | 6.5 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.0 | No score or less than 5 |
| Duolingo | 120-160 | 105-115 | 95-100 | 85-90 | No score or less than 85 |
| PTEA | 56 or higher | 46-55 | 36-45 | 29-35 | No score or less than 29 |
| SAT* | 591-800 | 461-590 | 301-460 | 200-300 | No score or less than 199 |
| ACT | 25-36 | 17-24 | 10-16 | 1-9 | No score |
| IB | 5 in HL English | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| British A-level | C or Better | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Reporting Scores
- Applicants must send TOEFL scores from ETS electronically to school code 1473.
- Applicants can upload a copy of their official IELTS or Duolingo score report into the application portal online.
- English proficiency test scores cannot be more than two years old.
Admission Type Descriptions
All new students are required to be placed into the appropriate English course upon arrival at UWM. Based on your scores used for admission, you’ll be placed in one of the following options, each of which may adjust your path to graduation.
Full Admission
Students who have full admission will need to take a placement test in English. All students are required to successfully complete English 102 to graduate from UW-Milwaukee.
Full Admission Foundation 1
Students placing into this category will require successful completion of three credits/one semester of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursework before taking English 102, the university’s requirement to graduate from UW-Milwaukee.
Full Admission Foundation 2 – up to two semesters
Students placing into this category will require successful completion of up to 10 credits/two semesters of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursework before taking English 102, the university’s requirement to graduate from UW-Milwaukee.
Full Admission Foundation 3 – up to three semesters
Students placing into this category will require successful completion of up to 17 credits/three semesters of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursework before taking English 102, the university’s requirement to graduate from UW-Milwaukee.
Conditional Admission
Students placing into this category will take a minimum of one semester (16 weeks) in UWM’s Intensive English Program (IEP). To receive full admission or full foundation admission, students must pass CEFR B1 Student Learning Outcomes in all three core classes (Reading, Listening & Speaking, and writing) or submit a minimum IELTS score of 5.0, TOEFL score of 65 or Duolingo score of 85.