Secondary Credentials

We appreciate your interest in Texas State University! International students are one of the fastest growing populations at Texas State, and we would love to be part of your educational journey! 

Students gathered around a table

Who is this page for?

This page is a great resource if you are one of the following:

  • A prospective freshman with international secondary credentials – that means you have not attended a college or university since graduating from secondary school, and you will complete or have completed your secondary school outside the U.S.
  • A prospective transfer student with international secondary credentials, with 14 or fewer transferable credit hours – that means you have at least attempted some college or university work since graduating from secondary, BUT the number of hours you are transferring in is not high enough yet to meet transfer admission standards.

How to use this page:

  1. Find your country or education program on the Credentials by Country page.
  2. On the page for your country, review the required documents listed, then submit your documents using our international document uploader. Please note that you will need apply for admission and activate your NetID before you can submit your documents. 
  3. Also review the common grade equivalencies that are included from your country. The GPA points each grade would equate to on a 4.0 American scale are provided, as well as what GPA generally meets requirements for admission.

If you are on an international program like Cambridge (A-levels, IGCSE, etc), IB, or WASSCE, please visit the Cambridge and IB program pages or the WASSCE section on select countries' pages for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Expand FAQ List

  • Our team is working hard to add more countries as applicants send us their secondary documents!

    Until we get your country added to our table, we will need least 3 years of completed work, through official exams and marksheets. 

    • If you’re still in your last year of secondary, send us your first 3 years of marksheets, transcripts, and exams. 
    • If you have completed secondary, send us documents for your last 3 years.

    If the grades and/or grade scale at your school do not match what we have in the chart for your country, we will use your school's grading scale (if provided on your transcript) instead of the general grade equivalencies listed for your country on our webpage.

  • Once you submit your documents, we will review your application file to be sure we have everything we need. Keep an eye on your email in case we have questions or need additional documents!

    Once we have all of your documents, we will recalculate your GPA based on the Grade/GPA conversion listed for your country. As long as you have a recalculated GPA of 2.74 (on a 4-point scale) in your last three years of work, you will likely be admitted. In general, that means we want you to have at least an average of a U.S. equivalent “B” or better in your courses and exams over the last three years.

  • You may have a document showing your ranked placement out of the total class or exam group (for example, a letter that says you ranked ninth out of 740 exam takers for the School Leaving Certificate Exam, or your marksheet of grades shows that you were top 5 in your class of 82). Texas State can potentially use this rank document instead of your recalculated GPA for admissions and scholarship purposes. The rank must be for your most recent or final (12th grade equivalent) year. 

    The two types of acceptable rank documentation include: 

    • A rank letter from your school or exam board showing your rank placement out of the total grade/exam group (for example, you ranked third out of 580 exam takers). 
      • You will submit your rank letter in addition to the required documents you see listed for your country. 
    • A marksheet, transcript, or results record from your school/exam board listing your rank placement, as well as the total number of individuals in your class/exam group or cohort.

    Otherwise, Texas State will assign you a class rank based on your recalculated GPA. 

  • Texas State will determine equivalent grades to the grades/marks on your transcripts/marksheets/exam documents. They will be converted to a 4-point scale, and those 4-point grades will be averaged to find your “Grade Point Average”, or GPA.

    Review the credentials page for your country to see how your grades have been equated to a U.S. grading scale.

    Also review the other FAQs here for what to do if you do not see your country listed, or if you do not think our equivalency matches what is on your transcript.

  • Use the international document uploader during your initial application process. 

    “Academic Documents,” such as transcripts and test scores, will be used to complete your file for initial review of your application.

    If you submitted these documents yourself instead of having your school send them to Texas State, they will be considered “unofficial.” We can use these unofficial documents to complete your file for initial admission review.

    English proficiency scores will only be accepted from the testing agency.

    You will need to request “official” documents once you have your final/completed credentials and exam results. You can request for your school to send your transcripts directly to Texas State, OR you can bring the official documents to the TXST OneStop once you arrive on campus. Your school can send PDF copies to processing@txstate.edu, or follow the high school transcript instructions.

    “Documents Needed for Immigration” are your bank statements, sponsorship letters, and copies of your passport. You can submit these via the international document uploader, but you will want to review the I-20 Request webpage for specific requirements. You will be able to request your I-20 if you are admitted.

  • International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) International - this is the office that will issue your immigration documents (I-20) if you are admitted.

    International Admission Requirements

    Next Steps for Admitted International Students 

    Application Status Check

Do you have additional quesions?

If you've reviewed the FAQ above and you have additional questions, you can reach out to our Senior Director for International Affairs, Courtney Sears, who specializes in working with our international undergraduate applicants.