Prospective Students

• FSU's Office of Admissions handles all first-year Admissions to FSU. This page provides the application link and answers many common questions that prospective international undergraduates may have and provides a point of contact for students with additional questions.  
• Visa Status: when you fill out the FSU application, you will be required to enter your current and prospective visa statuses. If you are not sure what your visa status should be, please review Visa Types & Study for information about studying at FSU in the F-1, J-1 and other visa statuses.  

• FSU's Office of Admissions coordinates all undergraduate transfers to FSU and works with academic departments and prospective transfer students to assist with the transfer of credit.   
• Visa Status: when you fill out the FSU application, you will be required to enter your current and prospective visa statuses. If you are not sure what your visa status should be, please review Visa Types & Study for information about studying at FSU in the F-1, J-1 and other visa statuses.

• Graduate students must first determine the academic program they wish to apply to. List of graduate programs offered at FSU. This list links to the webpage for each graduate program and provides the contact information for the Academic Department's Graduate Representative. Graduate students will apply for admission to the academic program by clicking on the apply link included in each graduate program page. Each academic program page will list the application requirements for that program.  
• Funding: funding decisions for graduate students are made by the academic department and typically announced at the time of admission to FSU. Departments have a limited budget, and their goal is to fund as many students as possible so if you are not offered funding at the time of admission, it is most likely because the funds available to the department have already been allocated. University funding/assistantships are rarely available to master’s degree students. General information about scholarship funding is available at: https://gradschool.fsu.edu/funding-awards and information about additional scholarships specific to international students can be found at https://cge.fsu.edu/international-students/funding.   
• Visa Status: when you fill out the FSU application, you will be required to enter your current and prospective visa statuses. If you are not sure what your visa status should be, please review Visa Types & Study for information about studying at FSU in the F-1, J-1 and other visa statuses.  

• How can I find out if I have been admitted? 
  CGE cannot process your I-20 until you have been fully admitted to FSU. To check your application status, please go to: https://admissions.fsu.edu/statuscheck. Please note that it will take approximately 48 hours for your admission to feed into the system we use for immigration.    
• Who should I contact with admissions questions?    

Undergraduate students: You should be able to find the answers to most questions at https://admissions.fsu.edu, but if you have additional questions specific to an application you have submitted, you can email admissions@fsu.edu. 
  
Graduate students: You should be able to find the answers to most questions at https://gradschool.fsu.edu/prospective-students, but if you have additional questions specific to an application you have submitted or about university requirements related to English Language Proficiency, Test Scores, and Academic Records, you can email graduateadmissions@fsu.edu. The academic department representative can provide information related to the academic program, program deadlines, and funding.   
  
You can find a list of FSU's graduate programs at: https://gradschool.fsu.edu/academics-research/degree-programs. 

• How much does it cost to study at FSU?  

Most international students are assessed out-of-state tuition and fees throughout their entire academic program, and must be enrolled full-time in Fall and Spring. Student Business Services provides the most up-to-date information about tuition and fees. Full-time for undergraduates is at least 12 credit hours. Full-time for graduate students is at least 9 credit hours. Some academic programs require more credit hours than the minimum. 

• Who should I contact with funding questions?    

  • Undergraduate students: Funding is very limited for international undergraduate students, but a few options are listed here: https://cge.fsu.edu/international-students/funding.   

    Graduate students: Assistantships are provided by the academic department at the time of admission. Please direct questions about assistantships/department funding to your academic department representative. You can also find some general information about funding at: https://gradschool.fsu.edu/funding-awards and information about funding specific to international students here: https://cge.fsu.edu/international-students/funding. Other websites which may list scholarships available to international students include: www.fundingusstudy.org and https://educationusa.state.gov. 

Undergraduate admissions is decided by the FSU admissions office. After the admissions office has processed your admission, you will receive an email entitled “Update on your FSU Application”. This email directs you to your  Admission Status Portal, which will notify you of your admission to the university and list the "Next steps".   

Note: After Admission You Must Apply for an FSU I-20/DS-2019
If you indicated on your FSU application that you will study in F or J status, you will also receive an email from CGE inviting you to apply for your FSU I-20/DS-2019 (the document needed to apply for an F-1 or J-1 visa).   

Note: You will not be able to apply for an I-20 until after you have been officially admitted to FSU. 

Admission to a graduate program at FSU is a two-part process.   

• Step 1: The academic department reviews and recommends or denies your application for official admission by the university. You may receive a letter from the academic department stating that you have been “accepted into the program” or that you have been “recommended for admission,” but a department recommendation does not constitute official admission. No I-20 request can be made until after completion of step 2 below. 
• Step 2: The Graduate School will review your academic credentials and make the final decision on whether or not you are officially admitted to the university. This may take three to six weeks. After the graduate admissions office has made a final decision, you will receive an email entitled “Update on your FSU Application”. This email directs you to your  Admission Status Portal, which will notify you of your admission/denial and list "Next steps".   

Note: After Admission You Must Apply for an FSU I-20/DS-2019 
If you indicated on your FSU application that you will study in F or J status, you will also receive an email from CGE inviting you to apply for your FSU I-20/DS-2019 (the document needed to apply for an F-1 or J-1 visa).   

Go to your Admissions Portal to complete the enrollment intent to save your place at the university.

After you are formally admitted to FSU, you must activate your permanent FSUID. To complete this process you will need: your EMPLID*, first (given) name, last (family) name, and date of birth (month, day, year) as you entered them in your application for admission. You can find your EMPLID by logging into your Admission Status Portal (available https://admissions.fsu.edu/statuscheck), and clicking on the link “View Decision Letter”.  

Click here to activate your FSU ID, then follow the on-screen steps to complete the activation process. For more details, view our FSUID How-To Guide. If you are still having problems logging in with your FSUID and password please contact the FSU IT help desk at: https://its.fsu.edu/its-service-desk.  

*The FSU-assigned EMPLID is not an SSN and cannot be used for any use outside FSU’s campus.  

Note: This is only required for new FSU students (continuing FSU students will retain their existing FSU ID and password).  

DUO Authentication: You will also complete DUO authentication during this process. We strongly recommend that you activate your FSUID and install the DUO app on a device that you will bring with you to the U.S., if possible. More information about the DUO mobile app and customer support resources can be found HERE. If you have a problem completing this step, please click the “Report a Problem” button on the DUO resource page. 

Before issuing your I-20/DS-2019, FSU is required by law to verify that you have sufficient financial resources to support yourself and all dependents who will accompany you.   

I-20 Funding Requirement for F-1 Visa Eligibility [link to subpage – not created yet] 

DS-2019 Funding Requirement for J-1 Visa Eligibility [link to subpage – not created yet]

If you indicated on your FSU application that you need F or J status, you will receive an email inviting you to apply for your I-20/DS-2019 after formal admission to the university. This email provides the link to log into the Nole Start immigration portal to complete the I-20/DS-2019 application. Click here for more information for admitted students. 

Note: It can take up to three days after your Admission Status Portal shows "Admitted" for you to have access to the online immigration system, Nole Start.