International Student Admission

A non-refundable $40 application fee is required to process your application. 

You can pay your application fee with a bank debit or credit card online with your application. 

You can also submit your application without payment and send a check from a United States bank or a bank money order in United States currency payable to “Fort Lewis College.” If you choose to send a check, please be sure your full name and date of birth are included on it.

Secondary diplomas require a course-by-course evaluation for the United States' equivalent grade point average (GPA) by a NACES member. Once you select a company from the NACES list, request a course-by-course evaluation of your transcripts. International Education Evaluation offers discounts to Fort Lewis applicants.

We encourage you to submit a personal statement or essay as a part of your admission application. While optional, it can provide valuable information for our review process.

This is a writing sample and should be between 200 and 500 words. You can choose one of the following: 

• A Personal Statement that helps us understand who you are beyond your grades and transcripts. You might highlight your academic journey or provide context to understand your experiences thus far. 
• An essay on a topic of your choice. Something you’d like to share with the Admission Committee can be a paper you’ve written for a class that you are particularly proud of or something more you’d like us to know.

ACT or SAT scores are optional. Fort Lewis College's testing codes are:

ACT: 0510
SAT: 4310

Apply for a student visa in four steps:

1. Apply to FLC. Before you can apply for a student visa, you’ll need to be accepted to FLC. FLC will issue you an I-20 form when you've been accepted, and you’ll be enrolled in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
2. Select the appropriate visa.
   1. Apply for an F-1 visa if you plan to graduate from FLC.
   2. Apply for a J-1 visa if you plan to spend a semester or two at FLC as an exchange student.
3. Fill out the online application forms provided by your U.S. embassy or consulate office and schedule an interview with them.
4. Attend your embassy interview, present your I-20, and pay your fees.

When to apply

Apply for your visa early because you must have it before you begin your studies at FLC. You may be issued a visa as much as 120 days before the start of the semester but you are not allowed to enter the U.S. earlier than 30 days before the start of the semester.

The U.S. F-1 student visa is one of the fastest visas to process. It is often processed directly before your interview at the embassy, and usually, the application is approved by the end of the interview. (Some F-1 visa applications take several days to process, though.)

The interview

At your embassy interview, you’ll present your I-20 form issued by FLC and will be asked to verify that you meet the criteria to receive the visa you’ve applied for.

Fees

• SEVIS I-901 fee: $350 U.S.
• Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application (DS-160) fee: $160 U.S.

*F-1 visa applicants are required to show that they will have the funds available to pay for the estimated cost of attendance for two semesters. At Fort Lewis, this amount is about $40,000.  

International students from countries where the primary language is not English must:

• Submit official TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, or PTE test scores
  OR
• Meet an English proficiency exam waiver requirement.

English proficiency exam scores must come directly from the testing service. Required minimum scores:

TOEFL: 61 (internet-based) or 500 (paper-based)
IELTS: 5.5
Duolingo: 95
Pearson (PTE): 44

For English proficiency exam exemptions, provide proof of one of the following options:

• Graduated from a U.S.-accredited school abroad with English as the language of instruction
• Graduated with a bachelor's degree in the U.S. or completed a minimum of two semesters of full-time study at a U.S.-accredited institution
• Graduated from and completed a minimum of one year of secondary school in the U.S. that included at least one unit of college preparatory English
• AP: Completion of English Language & Composition with a score of 4 or better
• IB: Completion of English A, Literature HL, English A Language & Literature HL, or English A Language & Literature SL with a score of 4 and higher
• SAT: Critical reading score of 470 or better (FLC code is 4310)
• ACT: English sub-score of 18 or better (FLC code is 0510)

Exempt countries: 

• Australia
• Belize
• Botswana
• Canada (except Quebec)
• Commonwealth Caribbean
• England
• Ghana
• Ireland
• Kenya
• New Zealand
• Scotland
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Wales
• Zimbabwe

All international students must submit their Declaration & Certification of Finances form.

Email your completed form to admission@fortlewis.edu.

*F-1 visa applicants are required to show that they will have the funds available to pay for the estimated cost of attendance for two semesters. At Fort Lewis, this amount is about $40,000.  

We strongly recommend international students purchase health insurance. The cost of healthcare, especially hospitalization, is very high in the US. Even a short illness can come with a high price. Health insurance can help prevent you from being responsible for paying for it. 

Suggested insurance resources:

FLC is not affiliated with any of the insurance providers listed below, and this list is not comprehensive, but here are a few options to get you started. These companies specialize in health and accident insurance for international students. 

• IMG International Health and Travel Medical Insurance 
• Compass Student Insurance 
• International Student Insurance 
• International Student Health Insurance INSUBUY 
• ISO International Student Insurance 

As an international student with an F-1 or J-1 student visa, you will not be able to work off-campus. However, you can work up to 20 hours per week on FLC’s campus and are eligible to apply for a “non-work-study” position. Unfortunately, “work-study” positions are not available to international students.

Contact our Career & Life Design Center for help finding available on-campus jobs.