International Students
Lander University welcomes the applications of qualified students who are not citizens of the United States. Such students may be admitted to Lander under the following regulations in addition to the general admission requirements that all applicants must fulfill.
Degree-Seeking Students (F-1 Student Visas)
1. An application for undergraduate or graduate admission.
2. In order to ensure the authenticity of documents and to provide consistent and fair evaluations, Lander requires all international transcripts and score results to be evaluated and verified by a Credential Evaluation Service certified by the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Education Credentials (NACES), www.naces.org. Students should request a “course by course” evaluation. Students may be asked to provide course descriptions or syllabi to determine how individual courses might transfer to Lander. Costs associated with using these services are the responsibility of the student. Exceptions may be granted for students who transfer to Lander University from an accredited 4-year institution from within the United States or as professional opinion dictates.
3. English proficiency. While degree-seeking international students must be proficient in English before acceptance, this proficiency may be demonstrated in one of the following ways.
a. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score. The minimum score on the TOEFL is 70. TOEFL’s institutional code for Lander is 5363.
b. International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The minimum score is a 6.0 with no subtest scores of less than 5.0.
c. Duolingo minimum score of 105.
d. Pearson Test of English score of 53.
e. Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). The minimum score is 600.
f. English being the official native language.
g. Completion of the equivalent of Lander’s ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States.
h. Appropriate English subscore on SAT/ACT: 450 SAT or 18 ACT verbal
i. Hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited United States college or university.
4. Entrance Examinations. Lander does not require entrance testing, however, if students wish to be considered for freshman academic scholarships, they are required. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or American College Testing Program (ACT) scores results should be sent directly from the College Entrance Examination Board (Lander school code 5363) or the American College Testing Program (Lander school code 8360) to the Office of Admissions
5. Students must submit an affidavit of support indicating the source of funds being made available to the student to cover all educational and living expenses while enrolled at Lander. This affidavit must indicate the amount of money being provided and the length of time the funds will be available. If sponsorship is through an organization or government agency, the Office of International Programs should be notified directly by the sponsor of the terms of scholarship support. In all cases, students will be responsible for paying their fees at the time of registration. The international fees sheet will provide information about expenses:
https://www.lander.edu/admissions/_files/Documents/fee-sheet-for-undergraduate-international-students-2025-26.pdf
Please note that expenses may change without notice.
Lander University reserves the right to request other information that may be necessary to evaluate the application.
All credentials for international students should be submitted several months prior to the expected term of enrollment.
Upon acceptance, a Certificate of Eligibility (Form I-20) is issued. This form will be used to apply for an F-1 student visa. Holders of student F 1 visas must enroll as full time students with a minimum course load of 12 credit hours for every semester that they are in the United States. Further information is available from the Office of International Programs.
International students must provide the Immunization Form and Tuberculosis Screening Form completed by a Health Care Provider.
Health and Accident Insurance: All international students and their dependents residing in the United States must participate in the student insurance program. Information concerning the limits and benefits of this insurance can be obtained from the Office of International Programs.
Graduate Admissions Policy for International Students with Bachelor's Degrees of Fewer than 120 Credit Hours
International students who have completed a bachelor’s degree of fewer than 120 total credit hours may be admitted into graduate programs if they have completed 60 hours of coursework relevant to the disciplines they hope to study at Lander University. If students do not meet this criterion, their applications may be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if they have obtained a sufficient academic background to successfully pursue graduate studies at the university. Admissions decisions for graduate students remain dependent upon all standard Admissions policies and procedures including mandatory transcript evaluation.
Justification:
Lander University routinely admits students into our graduate programs who have completed a bachelor’s degree in the United States that requires as few as 30 credit hours in a specific major. The requirement of 60 hours of coursework relevant to the discipline of graduate study exceeds this number by 100% and is roughly aligned with the number of hours required for our undergraduate business programs (there’s a little variation in our programs depending upon student concentration choices).
Most of our master’s degrees are open to students from any undergraduate major. This is the case with our programs that are most attractive to international students:
• Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Teaching and Learning
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Master of Science in Management (MSM)
• Master of Science (MS) in Emergency Management, and
• Master of Science (MS) in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Historically, we have seen no notable differences in student success rates based on the undergraduate major or length of undergraduate major.
This policy is aligned with our firm, evidence-based belief that success in graduate studies at Lander University is most closely correlated with the successful completion of a coherent course of undergraduate study that contains an appropriate amount of discipline-relevant coursework.
For questions regarding:
• Campus employment
• Filing of state and federal taxes
• Internships
• I-20 (travel documents)
• Maintaining SEVIS record
• Obtaining a social security card
• Obtaining a S.C. driver’s license
• OPT procedures
Contact: International Officer: Jeff Constant, Primary Designated School Official
Office of International Programs
Student Center Room S366
jconstant@lander.edu