Overview:

Thomas Edison State University was established to serve adult learners. Its mission “…provides distinctive undergraduate and graduate education for self-directed adults through flexible, high-quality collegiate learning and assessment opportunities.”

The University’s admission policy is reflective of its mission and purpose.

Application for admissions does not guarantee admission to the University.

Criteria for Admission:

In order to be admitted to the University, an applicant must:

• Possess a high school degree, GED, or a secondary home school diploma that meets the requirements of the applicant’s state of residency, and
• Be 20 years of age or older, or 18 years or older and an active member of the United States military (not applicable to military spouses, dependents or relations).
• Individuals under 18 years of age will not be permitted to take courses or enroll in the University.

Admission Waiver:

• Applicants (degree seeking and non-matriculated) who are 18-19 years, and who do not meet the military criteria for admission may apply for special consideration via the following requirements:
  • If you possess a high school degree, GED, or a secondary home school diploma that meets the requirements of the applicant’s state of residency, and have earned a minimum of 24 credits from a regionally accredited college/university with a grade point average of 2.0 or higher.
  • Complete the Age Waiver Petition Request Form
     
• Applicants (degree seeking and non-matriculated) who are 18-19 years, and who possess a high school degree, GED, or a secondary home school diploma that meets the requirements of the applicant’s state of residency, but have earned LESS than 24 credits or have earned their credits from an approved University course provider who is not regionally accredited, must take the Accuplacer, Next Generation examination within 30 days of applying and achieve scores of:
  • Reading Comprehension: 236 or higher
  • Sentence Skills: 241 or higher
  • Arithmetic: 216 or higher

Students are limited to taking the Accuplacer examination to two times within a 12 month period.

To request Accuplacer information be sent to you, please complete the Age Waiver Petition Request Form.

It is strongly encouraged that applicants between the ages of 18-19 make filling out the Age Waiver Petition Request Form their first step in the application process.

Students admitted through special consideration are subject to the same academic policies and requirements as those admitted unconditionally.

If you are applying for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, you must have:

• A registered nurse license valid in the United States, as well. More about applying to the online nursing program.

You do not need to take the SAT or ACT. However, international students whose country of origin is not English-speaking must provide scores from either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Learn more about applying as an international student.

You do not need to worry about application deadlines either. The University offers 12 terms during the year.

Partnerships:

Policy on Partnership Program Selection

• Thomas Edison State University maintains many partnership programs (including military, academic and corporate) that afford students a wide array of benefits.
• Students who meet the eligibility criteria for a University partnership benefit may opt into the partnership program only at the time of application.
• Students may only choose one University partnership to opt into and are prohibited from changing their enrollment to a different University partnership program.
• Students may choose to opt out of their enrollment in a University partnership program at any time but are prohibited from reinstating to the same University partnership program or choosing a different University partnership program.
• Students who no longer meet the eligibility criteria to participate in a University partnership program will be removed from the program.  Only in the event that the student is removed from a University partnership program due to a change in their ability to meet the eligibility criteria will they be allowed to select a different University partnership program provided they meet the requisite eligibility criteria.
• Students who allow their enrollment in the University to become inactive* may select a previously selected University partnership upon re-enrollment provided it is still available. Partner benefits in effect at the time of re-enrollment are afforded to students who re-enroll.
• *Students become inactive by not taking at least one TESU course every twelve months (or link to web definition of active enrollment)