International Students

Goddard College welcomes applications from international students. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorizes Goddard College to issue the I-20 Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) students and, therefore, to admit and enroll students to programs offered from Goddard’s Plainfield, Vermont, and Port Townsend, Washington, campuses.

Goddard College offers its program in a low-residency format which requires students to be physically present on campus for roughly eight days per semester, after which students return to their home state or country to complete the work of the semester under the supervision of the faculty advisor. It is important to note the following:

  1. Because of the non-traditional format of Goddard’s required residency as well as the structure of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) which is designed only for traditional full-time residential programs, Goddard can only issue an I-20 that is valid for the duration of the residency plus adequate travel time to and from campus. As such, international students enrolled at Goddard College cannot remain in the U.S. between residencies under the I-20 and/or F-1 visa.
  2. Goddard is required to issue a new I-20 to an international each semester they are enrolled and, therefore, students are required to pay the SEVIS I-901 fee ($200) in advance of each semester in order that a new, semester-specific, I-20 can be generated and issued to the student for travel purposes.
  3. No Optional Practical Training (OPT) is available to international students at Goddard and Goddard College does not issue I-20 certificates for F2 dependents (or, spouses or children) of I-20 / F1 visa holders.

Goddard College’s Admissions Office staff is well-trained to assist prospective international students and the Registrar can also be contacted with specific questions related to international student enrollment.

The following resources also provide valuable information related to the processes and regulations surrounding international student enrollment:

Basic Information
Payment of the I-901 Fee
Visa Requirements (Citizens of Canada)
Visa Requirements (Non-Canadians)
Traveling to the U.S.

International Transcripts

Transcripts from institutions outside of the United States and presented in a language other than English must be evaluated by one of the three approved agencies listed below. These agencies specialize in translating international credits into Carnegie units, the system used in the United States to assess collegiate attainment.