By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-09-30 23:57:12 | Updated at 2026-10-01 04:37:08
7 hours ago
The California State University system is considering dropping the English test international applicants must pass before they can enroll.
The 23-campus system may rewrite its admissions rules so that students whose first language is not English can skip the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Vice Chancellor Dilcie Perez brought the idea to the Board of Trustees last week, and the trustees could vote on it in November.
Perez said the change would swap the single test for what she called multiple approved measures of English ability. Cal State could judge proficiency the way the UC system already does, accepting the Duolingo English Test, the SAT, or Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate results. She argued that the current requirement shuts out applicants through its cost and limited availability, and insisted the university would not lower its standards.
International enrollment in California has fallen this year during the Trump administration’s crackdown on student visas. One trade group projected a 15-percent drop for the current school year, a loss of about 7,000 students in the state and roughly one billion dollars in tuition and other spending.
Foreign students typically pay full tuition, well above the in-state rate, and that money helps cover the cost of educating domestic students. International applicants make up about 2.5 percent of Cal State’s 470,000 students and about 12 percent of the University of California system.
The degree a foreign student earns at an American university can also open a path to a job in the United States. Foreign graduates are allowed to stay and work through Optional Practical Training, the post-graduation work permit program that runs from a student visa toward an H-1B and, for many, a green card. In 2024, 640,000 foreign graduates held OPT or related work permits.
Some say the looser rule will not matter much, because the State Department still decides who receives an F-1 student visa, and applicants who cannot read, write, and speak English are unlikely to clear that step.
California has been pulling back on admissions testing for years. The Cal State and UC systems already dropped the SAT and ACT, and some professors now report students arriving unable to do basic math.
