TOEFL, IELTS & Duolingo for USA Universities (2026)

A US university that admits you from India will almost always ask you to prove your English with one standardised test, and you usually get to pick from four. Those four are the TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic, the Duolingo English Test (a fully online, at-home English exam), and PTE Academic. They differ in what they cost you in rupees, how long they take, whether you sit them at home or at a centre, how fast the scores come back, and, the part most guides skate over, which US universities actually accept them.

Acceptance is not universal, and that single fact should drive your choice. The same test that one program takes, another refuses, and many top US programs still do not accept Duolingo or PTE at all. So the exam you sit depends on your specific target universities and programs, not on which one is cheapest or quickest. This guide compares the four honestly, names real minimum scores from the universities’ own pages, and then answers the two questions the search term hides, whether you can study in the USA without IELTS at all, and exactly which schools take Duolingo.

Which English tests do US universities accept, and how do the four compare?

US universities accept four main English proficiency tests from Indian applicants, and the right one depends on your budget, your test-day conditions, and your university list. A proficiency test is a standardised exam that certifies you can study in English, and it is separate from any SAT or ACT you take. The table below sets the four side by side on the things that actually decide your choice. Every fee and rule is current for 2026 and should be re-checked before you pay, because providers revise them.

Read across the rows and the trade-off is clear. Duolingo is the cheapest and fastest by a wide margin and you never leave your room, which is why so many Indian applicants reach for it first. TOEFL and IELTS cost three to five times as much and eat a morning, but they are accepted almost everywhere. PTE sits in the middle. Price and speed, though, do not decide whether a university takes your score, and that is where the four stop being interchangeable.

Why do you still need an English test at a test-optional US university?

You need an English test because it certifies something the SAT and ACT do not, that you can function in an English-language classroom, and it is a separate requirement that test-optional policies do not touch. Many US universities have dropped or made optional the SAT and ACT, and Indian students often assume that means testing is over. It is not. The English proficiency requirement stands on its own, set for applicants whose prior education was not in an English-dominant system, and dropping the SAT does not drop it.

The requirement is also set by the university, not by the US consulate. The visa officer looks at your F-1 student visa paperwork and your Form I-20, which the university issues only after it is satisfied you meet its own English rule. And one point catches Indian applicants off guard. US universities do not treat India as an English-speaking country the way they treat the UK or Australia, so even if your whole schooling was in English, you are usually classed as a non-native speaker and asked to prove it, unless you fit a specific waiver covered further down.

Does every US university accept the Duolingo English Test?

No. A large and growing number of US universities accept the Duolingo English Test, but many of the most competitive programs still refuse it, so it cannot be your only test if your list includes them. “US universities accept Duolingo” is true as a headline and misleading as a plan, because acceptance is decided university by university, and often program by program.

Plenty of strong schools do take it, at real minimum scores. The table below shows named examples from the universities’ own English-requirement pages. Notice that even among Ivy-level schools it splits.

Two patterns run through that list. First, acceptance is far stronger at undergraduate level and at large public universities than at elite graduate programs. Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences states plainly that alternate language tests are not accepted, so a Duolingo score is simply unusable there. If you are applying after Class 12 to broad-access schools, Duolingo is a fine primary test. If you are chasing a funded MS in the USA at a top department, treat it as a backup and sit TOEFL or IELTS as well.

Second, a university accepting Duolingo for admission does not mean every part of that university accepts it. The clearest example is teaching assistantships, the campus jobs that often pay an international student’s tuition. The University of Washington lets a non-native speaker qualify to be a teaching assistant with a Duolingo Conversation sub-score of 140, and its own policy notes that fewer than 10% of test-takers reach that. A Duolingo score that clears admission can still leave you short of a funded assistantship, which departments decide separately.

Which US universities accept PTE Academic, and which do not?

PTE Academic is accepted by a solid range of US universities, mostly large public and mid-selective private ones, but it is noticeably less accepted than TOEFL or IELTS, especially at the top. If your shortlist leans towards public flagships and regional schools, PTE is a safe computer-based choice. If it leans towards elite graduate programs, it often is not accepted at all.

On the accepting side, Arizona State takes PTE at a minimum of 53 for general programs, and Columbia College Chicago at 60. On the refusing side, Harvard’s GSAS and MIT’s graduate admissions do not list PTE among their accepted tests, and Yale College does not mention it either. There is also a format restriction most guides skip. Arizona State accepts PTE Academic but not the PTE Academic Online version, and it does not accept PTE for its nursing degree at all. So even at a university that takes PTE, the online version or your specific program can still leave your score out of scope.

Can you study in the USA without IELTS or any English test?

Yes, in two different senses, and it matters which one you mean. In the common sense, “without IELTS” simply means you take a different accepted test, TOEFL, Duolingo, or PTE, instead of IELTS. That is easy and almost every university allows it. Studying with no English test at all is the rarer case, and it depends on a waiver the university has to grant in writing.

The real no-test route for Indian students is the medium-of-instruction waiver, explained in the next section, plus a handful of schools that count your English-medium schooling directly. The University of California, for example, treats a first-year applicant as proficient with no test if all of your secondary schooling was completed in English, whatever your country. That single line waives the test for a large share of Indian CBSE, ISC, and state-board students at UC campuses.

But do not assume this is standard, because India’s status is split right down the middle. NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts lists India by name among countries “where English is the language of instruction for ALL universities” and waives the test for an Indian bachelor’s or master’s degree. Texas State University does the opposite, naming India specifically as a country whose graduates must still submit a test. The exact same Indian degree is a full waiver at one school and worthless at the other.

What is a medium-of-instruction (MOI) letter, and what must it say?

A medium-of-instruction letter, or MOI letter, is an official document from your school or college confirming that English was the language your degree was taught in, and some US universities accept it in place of a test. Where it is accepted, the formatting is strict. Arizona State’s graduate waiver form, for instance, needs the letter on official letterhead, signed by an authorised official, carrying your full name and program, and stating that English was the sole medium of instruction, and your degree must already be completed, not in progress.

Whether an MOI letter is accepted swings sharply between institutions, so it is worth exploring but not worth depending on. Kent State says flatly that it does not accept medium-of-instruction letters, and USC will not waive its requirement for programs taught in English in non-Anglophone countries, which is exactly how it classifies India. Others are generous, and William Paterson University accepts an MOI letter up to five years after you leave. A vaguely worded letter is a common reason a waiver gets refused, so get the wording exactly right and keep a valid test score in reserve in case the letter is rejected close to a deadline.

What does the new TOEFL 1 to 6 score scale mean for your application?

From 21 January 2026, TOEFL iBT is scored on a new 1 to 6 scale in half-point steps, replacing the old 0 to 120 total, and your target universities are in the middle of updating their minimums to match. Under the new system, each of the four sections gets a 1 to 6 score and your overall score is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band, rather than a sum. As a rough guide from ETS, a new overall 5 lines up with about 95 on the old scale, a 4.5 with about 90, and a 4 with about 80. During a two-year changeover to January 2028, your score report shows the old and new numbers together.

What this means for you is practical. University pages currently list minimums in whichever scale they have updated to, and some show both, so read the number against your actual test date. Cornell, for example, wants a 100 on the old scale for tests before January 2026, and on the new scale a minimum of 5.0 with a recommended 5.5, the 5.5 being the level that matches its old 100. And watch the sub-scores, because a strong overall does not save you if one section is short. Harvard GSAS requires a TOEFL speaking score of 4.5, roughly 23 on the old scale, even alongside a 95 overall. Indian test-takers, often stronger on reading and writing than on speaking, fall short on that section minimum more often than on the total.

How should you choose and time your English test?

Choose the test that your specific universities accept first, then optimise for cost and comfort, and time it so your scores are still valid when you enrol. Build your university shortlist, open each one’s English-requirement page, and note the test it accepts and the minimum. If your list is all public and mid-tier schools, Duolingo or PTE can carry it cheaply. If it includes elite graduate programs, plan on TOEFL or IELTS, because those are accepted everywhere and the alternatives are not.

Then respect two operational rules that cost Indian applicants real money and admissions cycles:

• Scores expire in two years. All four tests are valid for two years from the test date, and schools like USC will not accept a score more than 24 months old at submission. Sit your test roughly 12 to 18 months before your earliest deadline, not earlier, or it can lapse before you enrol.
• Self-reporting is not the same as an official report. Typing your score into the Common App is provisional. The university needs the official score sent directly from ETS, IELTS, Duolingo, or Pearson by its deadline, and each report can carry a fee and take days to arrive.

One honest caution on Duolingo specifically. Its at-home proctoring is strict, and in practice many test-takers report a test being invalidated for reasons like another person being heard in the room or a flagged connection. An invalidated test gives you no score at all, unlike a low one, so if you live in a shared home, a hostel, or a PG with thin walls or patchy internet, weigh that risk before you make Duolingo your only exam. A test-centre test costs more but is far harder to void through no fault of your own.

Sources

• ETS, TOEFL iBT test content, India fees, and the 1 to 6 score scale update
• IDP, IELTS India fee, and IELTS, IELTS Academic test format
• Duolingo, Duolingo English Test
• Pearson, PTE Academic and test centres and fees
• University English-requirement pages: MIT, Harvard GSAS, Yale, Cornell, Arizona State, Columbia College Chicago, Stanford, University of Washington
• Waiver and MOI policies: NYU Tisch, Arizona State MOI form, University of California, Kent State, USC, Texas State

Related reading. Line up your English test with the rest of your US plan, the full route to study in the USA after Class 12, an MS in the USA, the top universities for Indian students, and the F-1 student visa process. For more country guides, browse the Study Abroad hub.