International Students

• Calvin University Application OR The Common Application
  • Apply for free by January 1.
  • NOTE: International transfer students may only use the Calvin application.
• High school transcript – submitted by your guidance counselor through the application.
• SAT/ACT or IELTS/TOEFL/Duolingo – either from your high school or from the testing agency. See our testing guidelines for more information about which test you should submit.
• Official university transcripts – if you’ve done any university/college course work.
• You need a valid passport to study in the U.S. We encourage you to send us a scanned copy of the ID page of your passport, or begin the necessary paperwork to obtain or renew your passport. If you do not have a passport currently, please apply for one as soon as possible to avoid delays in obtaining an immigration document to schedule your visa appointment.

• Complete the International Student Application for Financial Aid.
• We do not accept forms from any other sources such as The College Board.
• We require all supporting documents to be original or certified copies.

Email the following to intladm@calvin.edu, with the subject line "Supporting financial aid documentation"

• Parent’s income statement – This can be a statement issued by their employer, person in charge of company finances, or it can be government issued tax document with the income amount listed.
• Parent’s savings statement – This bank statement must be recent and should demonstrate that you can cover at least two years towards your educational costs. If this is a checking account, the transaction history must not exceed three months.
• Sponsor’s letter of intent (if applicable) – This is a letter written by your sponsor indicating the amount they pledge towards your educational costs for each year. Sponsors should use this form for their letter of intent.
• Sponsor’s savings statement (if applicable) – This bank statement must be recent and should demonstrate that your sponsor can cover at least two years of their pledged amount from savings. If this is a checking account, the transaction history must not exceed 3 months.

Students receive a form I-20 to apply for an F-1 visa after being admitted and clearing financial review. Students will receive more information when they reach this stage of the process. 

Related immigration policies:

• After Calvin (Immigration)
• CPT (Immigration)
• Extension of Stay (Immigration)
• F-2s (Immigration)
• Leave of Absence (Immigration)
• Maintaining F-1 Status (Immigration)
• OPT (Immigration)
• Reduced Course Load (Immigration)
• STEM OPT (Immigration)
• Social Security Number (Immigration)
• Transferring Your SEVIS Record (Immigration)
• Travel (Immigration)
• Visas (Immigration)
• Visitors (Immigration)
• Working on Campus (Immigration)

Students outside the U.S. may take fully online programs, but international students studying within the U.S. must maintain a full load of in-person courses during each required semester. International students seeking to study on campus must carefully select their courses with guidance from their advisor to ensure a full in-person load while they are in the U.S. It is critical to plan ahead to schedule enough in-person courses to maintain a full load.

Here are criteria to consider for obtaining a student visa:

• Each fall and spring semester, an international student must be taking at least 8 credits, 6 of which must be in on-campus rather than online courses, in order to get a visa to study in the U.S.
• A "semester" refers to a full 16 week term, so students taking sessions in fall 1 term and fall 2 term can add those credits together to get to 8 credits.
• Taking courses in the summer is optional. International students are not required to take credits in the summer if summer session is not part of their program of study.
• If a class spans a semester and is offered online for most of the semester but culminates in an intensive period on-campus (such as a 16 week online class culminating in a one week on-campus experience), an international student can obtain a visa for the one week period, but not for the online portion.
• Students are not required to have a full in-person load during their final semester. However, they must be fulfilling at least one in-person requirement for their degree. 
   

• Calvin University Application 
• English Language Test Score to ensure you're ready to succeed. Accepted tests/scores are as follows:
  • Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
    • Internet-based: 100
    • Paper-based: 600
    • Computer-based: 250
    • Calvin University Institution Code: 1095
  • International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
    • Score of 7.0
    • Calvin University Institution Code: 1095
  • Duolingo
    • Score of 125 
• Official undergraduate university transcripts and transcript evaluation
  • Official transcripts need to be sent to Calvin University directly from the undergraduate institution from which you received your bachelor's degree to prove validity. Institutions should send official transcripts to us at either admissions@calvin.edu or mail to Calvin University Admissions, 3201 Burton St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, USA. 
  • If your transcripts are in English and show a GPA or CGPA and a bachelor's degree conferred, we do not require a transcript evaluation. If not, then an official course-by-course evaluation of any undergraduate and/or graduate level coursework must be provided by one of these foreign educational credential evaluators from the list below:
    • SpanTran: The Evaluation Company
    • Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE)
    • World Education Services (WES)
• Please note that you need a valid passport to study in the U.S. We encourage you to send us a scanned copy of the ID page of your passport, or begin the necessary paperwork to obtain or renew your passport.

Complete the International Graduate Declaration of Finances Form.

Email supporting financial documentation (income and bank statements) to graduate-programs@calvin.edu. We require:

• Income statement – This can be a statement issued by your employer, person in charge of company finances, or it can be government issued tax document with the income amount listed.
• Savings statement – Amount in your savings, checking or investments.
• Sponsor’s letter of intent (if applicable) – This is a letter written by your sponsor indicating the amount they pledge towards your educational costs for each year.
• Sponsor’s savings statement (if applicable) – This bank statement must be recent and should demonstrate that your sponsor can cover at least two years of their pledged amount from savings. If this is a checking account, the transaction history must not exceed 3 months.

• Calvin University Application OR The Common Application
  • Apply by January 1 and Calvin will waive the $35 application fee. Applications from Canadian students will be considered until August 1.
  • NOTE: International transfer students may only use the Calvin application.
• High school transcript – submitted by your guidance counselor through the application.
• SAT/ACT or IELTS/TOEFL – either from your high school or from the testing agency. See our testing guidelines for more information about which test you should submit.
• Official university transcripts – if you’ve done any university/college course work.
• You need a valid passport to study in the U.S. We encourage you to send us a scanned copy of the ID page of your passport, or begin the necessary paperwork to obtain or renew your passport.
  • US/Canadian dual citizens will need a US passport to enter the country.

• Complete the International Student Application for Financial Aid by April 1.
• We do not accept forms from any other sources such as The College Board.
• We require all supporting documents to be original or certified copies.

Email the following to intladm@calvin.edu, with the subject line "Supporting financial aid documentation"

• Parent’s income statement – This can be a statement issued by their employer, person in charge of company finances, or it can be government issued tax document with the income amount listed.
• Parent’s savings statement – This bank statement must be recent and should demonstrate that you can cover at least two years towards your educational costs. If this is a checking account, the transaction history must not exceed three months.
• Sponsor’s letter of intent (if applicable) – This is a letter written by your sponsor indicating the amount they pledge towards your educational costs for each year.
• Sponsor’s savings statement (if applicable) – This bank statement must be recent and should demonstrate that your sponsor can cover at least two years of their pledged amount from savings. If this is a checking account, the transaction history must not exceed 3 months.