All of the programs in the Graduate School of International Policy Studies have the same language requirement: 3 courses (12 credits) of advanced language*

*Advanced language means: third year college level or higher for in one of our core languages: Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, German, Japanese Russian, and Spanish; second year college level or higher for Arabic.

Students who study an approved non-core language must be able to start their studies at the third-year college level or higher and are charged an additional $1,500 per semester of language study to cover the cost of instruction.

Non-native speakers of English who submit TOEFL scores of 620 (260 computer, 105 internet) or an IELTS score of 7.5 overall score with no subscore below 7 on the academic module will have met the English requirement. These students may use some of their elective courses to take language courses regularly offered at the Monterey Institute, including: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese Russian, and Spanish. These languages are offered starting at the third-year college-level. Arabic is offered starting at the second year college-level.

Students’ language levels are tested at New Student Orientation before the start of their first semester. Based on the test results, students are advised as to which courses they should take in order to meet their degree requirements.