Placement and Testing

International students who apply to RIT or the RIT English Language Center must take an English proficiency exam as part of their admission process.

Full-time English language study non-degree applicants:  ELC non-degree applicants must take an online English exam as part of the application process in order to place into one of ELC’s six proficiency levels. For the non-degree language program, we recommend Duolingo English Test (DET) especially for assessing beginner or intermediate users of English.   RIT English Language Center also accepts other international exams. Please be sure to schedule the exam by the deadline! In some cases, the English Language Center may revoke admission if an applicant does not complete this important step in the application process.

RIT Undergraduate and Graduate degree applicants:  International applicants to RIT degree programs must complete an approved English language exam to demonstrate where their English proficiency falls compared to RIT admission standards. Approved exams include:  DET (Duolingo), IELTS, LanguageCert, PTE Academic, and TOEFL

The use of outside resources, outside help from another person, or any “AI” to assist you during the exam is strictly prohibited. To monitor this, your actions will be recorded during the exam.  Additionally, your speaking and writing samples will be evaluated by expert analysts to identify assisted or plagiarized language. If there is evidence of external assistance during the exam, the exam and results will be invalidated. For those applying to RIT degree programs: The admissions counselor and the head of the academic program that you are applying to will be informed regarding any invalidated results.