COM DACA and International Student Requirements

DACA & International Students

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (“DACA”) Applicants

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (“DACA”) is an American immigration policy that allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the country before their sixteenth (16th) birthday and who meet other restrictive criteria to receive renewable two-year work permits and exemption from deportation. CHSU welcomes applicants with DACA status to apply to its Osteopathic Medicine program. However, CHSU cannot guarantee licensure of DACA students by state licensing boards; the COM encourages all applicants with DACA status to communicate with the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, or the state where they plan to practice, to determine if they will be eligible to receive a license issued by that agency.

Please note: DACA students are not eligible for financial aid but may be eligible for private alternative loans. Please reach out to the office of Financial Aid if you have additional questions.

International Student Applicants

The COM does not sponsor visas for international applicants that require a visa to enter or remain in the United States.

International applicants who may lawfully enter or reside in the United States without the need for CHSU visa sponsorship are welcome to apply to the COM. However, the COM encourages all such applicants to communicate with the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, or the state where they plan to practice, to determine if they will be eligible to receive a license issued by that agency. Successful completion of the COM program does not guarantee all admitted students will receive such license. The COM will not be held liable to students who matriculate to CHSU and are later denied an osteopathic medical license in any state for any reason, including, but not limited to, denial on a basis related to undocumented or other ineligible immigration status.

International students follow the same application steps as all other applicants applying to the D.O. program. International students who have completed a bachelor’s degree in the United States will be exempt from the requirements listed below and will be subject to the same admissions standards as described above.

At this time CHSU does not offer English Language Services to international students and fluency in English is required of all students. No instruction will occur in a language other than English.

With regard to international students who have not completed a bachelor’s degree in the United States, the COM will consider such application within the context of that applicant’s home country’s educational environment, subject to the following additional requirements:

• International applicants must provide official copies of academic records (translated into English if received in a foreign language) from all colleges or universities attended after high school or equivalent.
• International applicants with U.S. permanent resident status and/or naturalized citizenship and holders of international visas who complete prerequisite courses from outside the United States must either: (a) submit an official evaluation of their coursework and degree(s), if any, from the World Education Services (“WES”) (http://www.wes.org/] to AACOMAS; or (b) submit an official evaluation of their coursework and degree(s), if any, from International Education Research Foundation (“IERF”) at [http://www.ierf.org/] to CHSU. Students may be exempt from the WES or IERF requirements as determined on a case-by-case basis.
• International applicants applying to attend CHSU who are from a country where English is not the primary language spoken must submit scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (“TOEFL”). These scores may be submitted through AACOMAS. Minimum TOEFL scores required for admission are as follows: