Office of Global Initiatives : TRANSITION POLICY FOR NEW ALI STUDENTS

If you are a new ALI student, you may be eligible to take an academic class concurrently with ALI classes if you meet the following criteria:

• you already have conditional admission to an undergraduate academic program at UT
• you placed in the Advanced level at the ALI in all skill areas (through the ALI Placement Test)
• you can provide evidence that you have a TOEFL score of at least 480 pbt ( at least 54 ibt), with:
  • Reading minimum: 46 pbt/12 ibt
  • Listening minimum: 46 pbt/11 ibt
• your high school GPA is 2.5 or higher
• approval of ALI Academic Review Committee

If you meet these criteria, you will be allowed to take 1 UT academic class (not online) and 15 hours (3 hours per day) at the ALI during your first semester.  These 15 hours do not include listening lab. 

If you are a new transfer student, you may also be eligible for the transition program.  However, eligibility for international transfer students is determined on a case-by-case basis with a representative from Inter-national Admissions and the ALI making the decision together.

In order to earn full-time admission to UT, a transition student must:

1. achieve a TOEFL score of at least 500 pbt (at least 61 ibt) and a UT cumulative GPA of 2.0*

or

2. achieve a PASS in any Pass/No Credit course and a semester UT GPA of 2.0 (with a cumulative UT GPA of 2.0 for continuing transition students)* while achieving the following in the ALI:

a. 3.0 GPA with no grade below a C in all classes for the semester

b. 85% attendance for all ALI classes (including labs) during the semester

c. approval of ALI Academic Review Committee

 If a student does not meet the requirement above, a decision about whether to allow the student to continue as a transition student and about relative course load at UT and at the ALI will be made on an individual basis with the ALI Academic Review Committee, based on the student’s performance at both UT and the ALI.

*Warning: Notice that there is a risk in the transition program.  If your UT GPA is below 2.0, you cannot be admitted full-time to UT even if you get 500 on the TOEFL.

Note: The above policy was established with first year students in mind.  Because transfer students are in a more difficult situation, the decision to allow transition status to a transfer student will be made on a case-by-case basis with the ALI Academic Review Committee.  Also, in the summer, the transition program may be a bad idea for students because of scheduling problems.  The ALI may advise students against it.

NO STUDENT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, MAY TAKE AN ONLINE COURSE