Admission to Liberty University’s undergraduate program is governed by policies and procedures approved by the Undergraduate Administrative and Curriculum Committee of the Faculty Senate.
The mission of Liberty University is to develop Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge, and skills essential to impact the world. We expect that our students understand and respect our mission and purpose while enrolled at Liberty University.
The Liberty University resident undergraduate admissions department operates on a rolling admission basis. This policy means that we do not have a final deadline for applications to be considered and will consider each applicant on a case-by-case basis. However, we do have a priority deadline for submission and it is recommended that applicants strongly consider adhering to that deadline as the majority of our applications are received by that date.
Prospective students are assessed according to academic background; personal moral behavior and character; personal philosophy; and willingness to follow Liberty’s rules, regulations, and policies. In the consideration process, the applicant’s complete prior academic record, recommendations, plans for the future, and personal information will be reviewed upon request. Applicants meeting the required standards in these areas may be admitted to one of the academic terms at the University.
Liberty University does not engage in unlawful discrimination or harassment because of race, color, ancestry, religion, age, sex, national origin, pregnancy or childbirth, disability or military veteran status in its educational programs and activities. Liberty University maintains its Christian character and reserves its right to discriminate on the basis of religion to the extent that applicable law respects its right to act in furtherance of its religious objectives. The following persons have been designated to coordinate Liberty University’s compliance with certain anti-discrimination laws:
The University reserves the right to refuse or revoke admission or readmission to any prospective student or returning student. Any applicant who intentionally withholds pertinent information or who falsifies information may be required to withdraw from Liberty.
The Office of Admissions may request additional documentation from applicants who do not meet admissions standards. If the Office of Admissions, in its professional opinion, determines that the documentation justifies the candidate’s potential for success, the Office of Admissions may present the documentation to the Office of the Provost with a request to admit the student.
The regulations listed herein are subject to change after the date of publication through established procedures. Liberty University reserves the right to make necessary changes without further notice.
Prospective students who wish to speak to an admissions counselor about the admissions process or admission policies may do so by contacting our Resident Admissions office.
Hours of Operation:
M,Tu,Th,F 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. EST
Wed. 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. EST
SAT 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. EST
Mailing Address:
Liberty University
Attn: Resident Admissions Office
MSC Box #710278
1971 University Blvd.
Lynchburg, Virginia 24515
Prospective students are encouraged to apply online at apply.liberty.edu.
The Admissions Committee welcomes applications for first-year, transfer and readmit admission. When we read undergraduate applications, we value intellectual ability, academic achievement, and personal qualities that will contribute to the University mission and campus community. The university also reserves the right to withdraw an application for admission after 60 days of inactivity.
Admission decisions are competitive and are based primarily on the following factors:
Note: Other documentation such as reference letters, community service, and leadership, may also be helpful or required by the admissions committee. Results from the CLT, SAT or ACT are not required for admission, but may be used in consideration for merit-based aid.
Items to be Submitted
In lieu of a final transcript, Liberty University will accept a preliminary transcript. A self-certification of high school graduation or a final high school transcript will be required to continue the program beyond the first semester.
In addition, some high school and college transcripts may be waived if they are unobtainable due to circumstances as determined by the Office of the Provost.
Official transcripts of the final high school or college records must be requested directly from the educational institution and sent to the Resident Admissions Office. An official high school or homeschool transcript is defined as a transcript received in a sealed envelope with the school’s address. In addition, the final high school transcript or GED, HiSET, or TASC is considered official if it is faxed (or sent by other electronic means such as email or electronic transcript service) by the high school or center itself, and received by the Resident Admissions Office. In order to be considered official, the transcript must be stamped official by the Resident Admissions Office, after confirming receipt with the issuing high school or homeschool.
Although the University does not require specific high school courses for admission, successful applicants usually have completed at least 4 years of English, 2–3 years of college preparatory mathematics, 2 years of laboratory science, 2 years of social science, 2 years of foreign language, and at least 4 units of elective credits in subjects such as art, music, or drama. A high school diploma must be a standard or advanced diploma, or its equivalent. This curriculum prepares one for the classroom expectations at Liberty University.
Liberty University reviews high school transcripts only on a 4.00 GPA basis. All transcripts are converted to an unweighted 4.00 scale. Applicants who fall outside of the range for acceptance will be evaluated on other indicators of ability to perform satisfactorily at the college level and may be admitted on Academic Caution or Probation.
“These dates are subject to change”
The University recognizes that the academic records of home-educated students vary widely. However, records of academic work plus any evaluations or grades awarded by the parent or other evaluator must be included on the academic records to properly evaluate the applicant’s eligibility for college-work. Additionally, homeschooled applicants must also submit:
Applicants from nonpublic high schools, whose accreditation cannot be confirmed, must have their school submit a self-certification form to confirm their curriculum meets state standards. Statements printed on the official transcript, confirming that the curriculum meets state standards will also be accepted. Applicants must also satisfy the same admissions requirements as other applicants, including applying and paying the application fee.
Transfer applicants must complete all of the forms that are listed for the initial application procedure. However, undergraduate transfer applicants who earn an Associate’s degree from an accredited institution do not need to submit standardized test scores except when specifically requested to do so by the University.
A copy of the official transcript from each college or university that the transfer applicant attended must be sent directly to the Admission’s Office from the Registrar(s) of the respective institution(s) of higher learning.
Unofficial transcripts will allow for acceptance and registration. Unofficial transcripts will not be reviewed for transfer credit. Before submitting unofficial transcripts, please make sure they include the following:
Official transcripts are required in order to register for a second semester.
All students who intend to transfer to Liberty must be eligible for readmission at the last institution attended. The record is reviewed based on Liberty’s scholastic regulations. Any applicant whose GPA does not meet Liberty’s scholastic standards, even though the applicant may not have been placed on Academic Caution or Probation at the last school attended, may be denied or placed on Academic Caution or Probation.
Normally courses and degrees from regionally accredited institutions or those nationally accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (e.g., SACSCOC, TRACS, ABHE, etc.) will be evaluated for transfer of credit. However, on a limited basis Liberty does accept transfer credit via experiential learning, advanced placement and professional certificates from unaccredited institutions under certain terms and conditions established by Committee on Academic and Admissions Standards. Credit earned through this process will not be counted toward the required minimum of 25% of the major and minimum of 25% of the credit hours that must be completed through Liberty University for a bachelor’s degree. Also, credit earned through the portfolio process or professional certificate evaluation cannot exceed 30 credit hours. Applicants must request that official transcripts be sent directly from the Registrar(s) of the previous school(s) to the Registrar’s Office at Liberty University. These transcripts must be received before an admission decision will be made.
Credit will be accepted for those courses that are undergraduate level in which applicants have made a grade of C- or better. Transfer credit will be awarded grades of P and will not be used in computing the Liberty GPA. Transcripts are evaluated under the guidelines established by the Senate Committee on Academic and Admissions Standards. Internships, capstone courses, special topics, remedial courses, workshops, seminars, independent studies, and varsity courses are not transferable. Students may appeal their transfer evaluation via the LU Transfer Suite with a course description or course syllabus.
In order to receive direct credit for a course, the description must overlap the Liberty University course content at least 60%. Courses that do not match a Liberty University course by at least 60% are eligible to transfer as elective credit where allowable. Elective credit is coded as 1XX – 4XX, depending on the level of the course.
At any point prior to degree conferral, students may petition to have courses that are listed as electives substitute for required courses by using the Course Substitution form. Additionally, duplicated or repeated institutional and/or transfer credit will only be counted once toward total earned credit hours, unless courses are deemed repeatable.
Liberty University will evaluate students’ prior military experience and develop a degree plan for each student to follow. Evaluations will be based solely upon the recommendations of the American Council of Education (ACE) guidebook, A Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services. Military applicants should send in military transcripts or documentation from their particular branch of service. If those documents are unavailable, applicants should submit a copy of their DD214, 2-1, 2A, or DD295 for evaluation.
Transferability of credit earned through Liberty University is at the discretion of the receiving institution.
Applicants must submit all of the required documents to complete the admission file. When all documents have been received and evaluated, applicants will be notified of their admission decision. Following notification of acceptance, applicants will receive information relating to Financial Check-In and course registration.
New students who decide to attend Liberty University must submit a $250 Enrollment Deposit. This deposit secures any available institutional grants or scholarships; however, only completion of Financial Check-In ensures the availability of a class schedule and housing assignment. The $250 Enrollment Deposit may be submitted online at www.liberty.edu/Deposit.This deposit will be credited to the student’s account as a deposit toward the upcoming semester.
Should the student decide not to attend, the University must be notified in writing with an Enrollment Deposit refund request by May 1 of each academic year for those who confirmed for fall term, and by December 1 for those who confirmed for spring term. After these deadlines, the $250 Enrollment Deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable. The credit, however, may be deferred up to one academic year should the student be able to attend in a subsequent semester. However, if you update your deposit to any other semester, you will no longer be eligible for a refund.
All resident students must complete and submit an online Health Form through their Liberty ASIST account. This form does not need to be submitted prior to acceptance. Any accepted applicant who withholds pertinent health information may be required to withdraw from the University.
Status 1 Special Students are early enrollment or dual enrollment students who do not have a high school diploma or equivalent. These students must show evidence of ability to complete the courses selected. They may become candidates for a degree after completing high school diploma requirements.
Status 2 Special Students are those students who are not interested in obtaining a degree; however, they are interested in taking one or more college level courses up to a maximum of 12 credit hours. Additional courses may be approved if the student has no intention of being a degree-seeking student. This decision is based off review by the Registrar’s Office.
Residential students: Applications are available upon request from the Resident Admissions Office.
Students deciding to enroll as degree seeking students in the future must complete a new application and fulfill all admissions requirements.
Students who have been Academically Dismissed from Liberty University are not eligible for Special Student status. Students who have completed 12 or more credit hours at their current level are not eligible for Special Student status.
Financial Aid is unavailable under Special Student status.
A break in enrollment occurs when the student fails to matriculate in at least one course during a fall or spring semester. Students who break enrollment must apply for readmission and will be subject to the requirements of the Catalog and degree requirements in effect at the time of their readmission.
Any military students wishing to be readmitted who broke enrollment due to deployment must contact the Office of Military Affairs.
Students who have withdrawn from the University or who have broken enrollment must apply for readmission through the Admissions Office. Admission status is subject to the terms of any previous academic or disciplinary suspension or probation. Applicants must provide official transcripts from all educational institutions attended since enrollment at Liberty. Students must receive approval from the Registrar’s Office, Office of Community Life, and Student Financial Services before an acceptance decision can be made.
Undergraduate students may enroll in master’s-level courses during the semester in which they have nine or fewer semester hours remaining to complete their bachelor’s degrees. Students must meet the cumulative GPA requirement for admission in good standing into a graduate program to be eligible to register under dual enrollment for that program.
Students may be dually enrolled for a maximum of two semesters and may enroll for a maximum of nine semester hours of graduate course work.
Non-Liberty University undergraduate students must send in their Graduate admission application, official transcripts, and a letter from their current Registrar’s Office indicating their current Grade Point Average, the specific degree they are pursuing, the estimated date of graduation, and the number of remaining credit hours for degree completion. Once these documents have been received by the Office of Graduate Admissions, the student must contact the Liberty University Registrar's Office to request approval for dual enrollment.
Currently enrolled Liberty University undergraduate students do not need to send in an application; they must submit a request via the Dual Enrollment Request Form.
For information concerning how dual enrollment impacts tuition rates and financial aid eligibility, visit the following links:
Dual enrollment is not available to the following students:
Approval for readmission under Academic Amnesty must be granted by the Office of the Provost. In order to qualify for Academic Amnesty, a student must have been academically suspended or academically dismissed from the University, as well as must satisfy the subsequent guidelines for readmission.
The Registrar’s Office, upon receiving the written request, must receive approval from Community Life, Student Financial Services, and the Office of the Provost before readmission will be granted.
If approved for Academic Amnesty, the student will be readmitted under the following provisions:
Applicants who have completed secondary education or college-level academic coursework outside of the U.S. must have their transcripts evaluated by a credential evaluation service provider that is a member of the National Association of Credential Services (NACES®).
If the NACES credential evaluation was completed based on a preliminary secondary transcript for the purpose of admission to the University, the student must also submit a NACES evaluation of the final secondary credential before being permitted to register for second semester courses.
Applicants whose native language is a language other than English must submit official scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an approved alternate assessment (see below).
Applicants who successfully complete the levels of English-Second-Language (ESL) instruction indicated below at one of three schools will have the TOEFL requirement waived. Students will have their application held until transcripts from one of the below schools are received.
If an international student is seeking admission to an undergraduate program of study and has attended an accredited U.S. high school for a minimum of two years, the English proficiency test requirement may be waived.
If an international student is seeking admission to an undergraduate program of study and has earned a high school diploma at an accredited international high school outside of the U.S. using a U.S. high school curriculum and in which the primary medium of instruction is English, the English proficiency test requirement may be waived. (Proof must be submitted in the form of an official statement from the school's Registrar Office.)
If an international student completes an undergraduate degree at an accredited university/college outside of the U.S. in which the primary medium of instruction is English, the English proficiency test requirement may be waived. (Proof must be submitted in the form of an official statement from the school's Registrar Office.)
Students who have studied for two or more years in a country where a waiver is currently provided, but where the student is not also a citizen of that country, the English proficiency requirement may be waived.
Students who have attended a U.S. college/university for two or more years may not be required to submit a test of English proficiency. Information regarding English proficiency tests may be obtained online as follows:
Graduate Students Only
Applicants must earn a TOEFL score of 8.5 on the Essentials test or 80 on the iBT (Internet Based Test), a 3.9 on the iTEP, a 6.5 on the IELTS, a 105 on the Duolingo English test, or an equivalent score on an approved alternate test for all graduate degree programs. An official score report sent directly from the testing service must be submitted to the University before an admission decision can be made. Applicants who have an earned degree from a college or university in the U.S. or other English-speaking country or school may have the TOEFL requirement waived by the Office of Graduate Admissions. In addition, the Office of Graduate Admissions may require any student whose native official language is not English, regardless of citizenship, to submit a TOEFL score or score from an approved alternate test, if such documentation is deemed necessary. Enrollment in certain courses may be determined by the student’s English proficiency test score in conjunction with other diagnostic assessments administered after the student matriculates on campus.
Online Students Only
Students living abroad and foreign nationals residing in the U.S. with an appropriate visa status are eligible to enroll in online classes provided they have the necessary Internet access and email service. Enrollment in online courses does not enable students to obtain or remain on Student (F-1) Visa Status.
The University offers general admission to its undergraduate program of study to applicants who achieve one of the following scores on a standardized test of English proficiency:
Residential Students Only
Liberty University is authorized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to issue the SEVIS Form I-20 to eligible international students and their dependent family members. Any person who is not a U.S. citizen or Legal Permanent Resident of the United States and who desires to be admitted to the University and attend on campus courses while on Student (F-1) Visa Status must follow the procedure established by the Office of International Admissions. Applications for the fall semester should be submitted by April 1 and applications for the spring semester should be made by October 1.
Any college transcript from an educational institution outside of the U.S. must be officially translated into English and submitted to a credential evaluation service accredited by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) at https://www.naces.org/.
At the discretion of the Office of International Admissions, applicants from English-speaking countries may also be required to submit an English proficiency test score that meets the required minimum.
The University offers general admission to its undergraduate program of study to applicants who achieve one of the following scores on a standardized test of English proficiency:
Some programs of study in the School of Aeronautics have higher English language proficiency requirements which students must meet before being admitted (for flight-based majors) or before enrolling in certain courses (e.g., aviation maintenance and aviation administration courses).
Minimum English proficiency test score requirements for admission to a School of Aeronautics major, minor, or certificate program of study leading to FAA certification or enrollment in a course leading to FAA certification are:
Students enrolled in these programs or courses, who do not reside in an English- speaking country, are not eligible to have the English proficiency test requirement waived.
Unmarried students under the age of 21 are required to reside in housing provided by the University. Unmarried students who are 21 years of age or older may choose to reside off campus. It is strongly recommended that a minimum of one semester be spent in University housing to help international students adjust to the local area and culture. On-campus housing is not available for married students or those over the age of 25.
International students must be covered by an adequate health insurance policy each semester of enrollment. A mandatory student health insurance fee is added to the account of international students each fall and spring semester. It is the responsibility of international students to remain enrolled in an adequate health insurance policy while studying at the University.
As part of the admission requirements, international students must document availability of adequate funds to pay for all University-related expenses for the regular nine-month academic schedule. Those who intend to remain during the summer must document additional funds (approximately $4,000 US) for living expenses.
Newly accepted international students are required to complete the International Online Orientation course in Canvas.
The Parent and Family Connections Office provides communication between the University and parents of Liberty University students in order to support student success, generate goodwill for the University, and promote an appropriate role for parents within the campus community.
Additional information on events and services is provided online at https://www.liberty.edu/casas/parents/.
A guaranteed admissions agreement exists between the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) and Liberty University. For details, visit the Registrar's webpage at https://www.liberty.edu/registrar/course-transfer-equivalency/.
A Guaranteed Transfer Agreement exists between Richard Bland College and Liberty University. For details, please contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar@liberty.edu.
Students attending, or who have attended, Liberty University are given certain rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended (20 U.S.C. 1232g) and Rules of the Department of Education (34 C.F.R. Part 99) implementing this Act.
Additional information and University policies regarding the protection of student records are published online at http://www.liberty.edu/ferpa.
Additional information regarding the University’s academic and administrative policies and procedures can be found on the University web site at http://www.liberty.edu/registrar.
Copyright © Liberty University. All rights reserved.
