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Application Process

PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE PROCEEDING:

  • The instructions on this page are intended for exchange students only. Exchange students are undergraduate or graduate students who have been selected by Purdue's partner universities to study at Purdue for one or two semesters.
    International students applying to Purdue for a degree program need to start at this page.  
  • Only completed online applications with all supporting documents can be processed. Faxed, mailed, or scanned applications cannot be processed.
  • At any point prior to the deadlines, admission to certain academic programs may be closed. It is crucial that exchange student applications are received by the application deadline.

APPLICATION DEADLINES

  • October 1 to begin studies in January (spring semester/calendar year applicants)
  • March 15 (with preference to receive by March 1) to begin studies in August (fall semester/academic year applicants)

ADMISSION & APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Grade Point Average (GPA): Purdue University's admission requirements extend to incoming undergraduate and graduate exchange students. Nominees for admission as exchange students must have a minimum cumulative GPA equivalent to a U.S. 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (above average grades).

An official or certified university transcript showing all university courses previously taken and their grade is required. If the transcript is not in English, it must be accompanied by a certified translation.

English Language Ability: Purdue is required by US federal law to ensure that international students possess adequate English language ability. Please note that this requirement only applies if English is not your native language or if the language of instruction at your home university is not English. Score results must be from a test taken within the past two years.

In order to meet this requirement Purdue generally requires international exchange students to submit one (1) of the following:

  • TOEFL Total score of 80 or higher (no section score below 20)

  • IELTS Overall score of 6.5 or higher (no section score below 6.0)

  • DET (Duolingo English Test)
    In general, applicants must have a 110 or better.
    Purdue requires the submission of DET subscores along with the overall result.  Please request to have your results submitted to: Purdue University Undergraduate Admissions.

Scans of official TOEFL and IELTS score reports uploaded to the incoming exchange application are acceptable.  Duolingo results cannot be submitted as scans and must be issued directly from Duolingo to Purdue University Undergraduate Admissions.

Incoming exchange students who intend to enroll as graduate students and whose native language is not English are required to provide TOEFL or IELTS results as proof of English proficiency for admission. A DET score of 115 is also acceptable with integrated subscores in Production, Literacy, Comprehension, and Conversation. All scores must be no more than two years old at the time of admission by the Graduate School.

Copy of Passport: A clear, color scan of the passport information page with photo and full legal name is required. Passports must be valid for six months past the intended enrollment dates.

Additional Application Instructions: The above documents must be in color in PDF or JPG file format and should be uploaded to the online application. Nominated students must receive a link from their home institution in order to begin the online application.

Course Preferences: It's very important to read the information about course selection and registration BEFORE you complete that section of the exchange student application. Course listings for the current semester may not be posted to the Purdue website until after the deadline. Please refer to the listings for the previous fall or spring semester.

NEXT STEPS AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Immigration Requirements: Exchange students will receive an email from International Student Services (ISS) to gain access to the myISS Portal (within a week of acceptance). Students must complete the Notification of Intent (NOI) in their myISS Portal before receiving the required DS-2019 Certificate of Eligibility. Processing immigration documents (DS-2019) can take 4-6 weeks. Each student will receive a notification at their Purdue email address when their DS-2019 is available, along with instructions for accessing it online.

All international students must pay the required SEVIS fee to the United States Department of Homeland Security per the instructions sent with the immigration document (DS-2019). It is not possible to pay the SEVIS fee before receiving the DS-2019. Additional important information about the visa application process can be found in the Prepare to be WOWed guide on our webpage for accepted incoming exchange students.

HOUSING

University Residences Housing: After students have been admitted and assigned a Purdue identification number (PUID), they can apply online for University Residences accommodation. As soon as an exchange student is admitted, the Study Abroad Office sends an email explaining exactly how to apply online for housing.

Additional Details for Accepted Students