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International applicants must complete the online application, which contains your personal information, information from your parents and details of your educational and extracurricular activities, including service, athletics and fine arts.

The online application is your opportunity to tell us who you are, what you’ve accomplished and why you think Southern Virginia is a good fit for you. Applications for the fall semester should be submitted by June 1.

Begin Online Application

Application and Administrative Fees

In addition to the $35 application fee required for all applicants, students outside of the United States and Canada are also required to pay a non-refundable $255 administration fee. This fee will be fully applied to your first semester of tuition. Your application cannot be accepted until these fees ($290 total) are paid.

Foreign students applying to Southern Virginia with zero to 24 college credits are required to submit an official copy of their high school transcript along with their application. Students who have earned 24 or more college level semester credit hours need only to submit official transcripts for all post-secondary institutions (college) that they have attended, along with their application. Transcripts should be mailed directly to the Admissions Office:

Office of Admissions
Southern Virginia University
One University Hill Drive
Buena Vista, VA 24416

Transcript Evaluation

Students applying to Southern Virginia from outside the U.S. or Canada are required to submit to the university an evaluation of foreign academic credits by a recognized foreign credential evaluation service as part of their application process.

View a list of evaluation companies

Minimum Grade Point Average

The minimum cumulative grade point average for consideration for admission to Southern Virginia University is 2.0 on a 4.0 unweighted scale. However, the average freshman GPA is approximately 3.25. Provisional acceptance may be offered to students with lower-than-average academic credentials.

All international applicants must submit an ACT or SAT score report (score reports that appear on an official high school transcript are acceptable). The minimum standardized test scores for consideration for admission to Southern Virginia University are a 17 on the ACT or 1210 on the SAT. However, the average freshman scores are approximately a 23 on the ACT or 1550 on the SAT.

Provisional acceptance may be offered to students with lower-than-average academic credentials. Applicants are encouraged to take the ACT and/or SAT two or more times.

It is recommended that students take the tests near the end of their junior year of high school (or the equivalent thereof) and again the following fall. The highest cumulative score(s) achieved on a single test date will be used for the admissions evaluation.

Please request that the College Board (SAT) or ACT send your scores directly to Southern Virginia University using the following codes:

• Southern Virginia’s SAT code: 5625

• Southern Virginia’s ACT code: 4400

All students who wish to attend Southern Virginia University must submit an Ecclesiastical Endorsement regardless of their religious affiliation. Please print a copy of the Ecclesiastical Endorsement (PDF) and give it to your ecclesiastical leader to fill out and return to Southern Virginia’s Admissions Office.

The Ecclesiastical Endorsement, along with the student pledge in the online application, is a vital measurement by which Southern Virginia can assess your commitment to live by the principles expressed in our Code of Honor.

All international students whose primary language is not English are required to submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) before being accepted by Southern Virginia University.

Please follow the following guidelines when submitting your TOEFL scores.

• Test must be administered within six (6) months of the desired admission date.
• TOEFL scores must be received directly from the Educational Testing Service (ETS).
• Applicants taking the TOEFL exam must take all three sections of the exam: listening comprehension, structure and written expression, and vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Students should score at least the following:

• 550 on the paper-based test
• 213 on the computer-based test
• 79 on the internet-based test

Exceptional students with lower TOEFL scores may be admitted but will be required to secure ESL tutoring. The cost of any required tutoring in English as a second language must be borne by the student. Since the university does not currently sponsor ESL tutoring, students must rely on their own initiative to identify potential sources of such training.