Kichemy Dorcena, a first-generation student at Berea College in Kentucky, says he chose the Duolingo English Test over similar assessments because of its availability in Haiti, his native country.
“I was living in the capital of Haiti, where armed gangs control more than 80% of it,” Dorcena says. “As a result, reaching one of the only two test centers in the country was nearly impossible.”
Dorcena says he chose the DET because he was able to take it at his convenience, adding, “My only needs were my laptop, a quiet space and a good internet connection.”
Duolingo English Test, a computer-adaptive language proficiency exam, is gaining momentum as a way to measure the language skills of prospective international students applying to U.S. colleges and universities.
Luis von Ahn, CEO and co-founder of Duolingo, a language learning platform, says English tests should test English and “not a candidate’s geography or finances.” He says the DET costs 80% less than other tests — $59 — and the company makes AI-driven security investments to allow the test to be taken anywhere.
“It’s the only way to ensure that anyone, regardless of where they are in the world, can demonstrate their ability and access the best education in the world,” von Ahn says.
[Read: International Student Numbers in U.S. Show Fastest Growth in 40 Years]
Here’s what prospective international students should know about:
— How to access the Duolingo English Test.
— What the Duolingo English Test covers.
— Which schools accept the Duolingo English Test.
How to Access the Duolingo English Test
The test can be taken online anytime, anywhere, in less than an hour, according to the test’s website.
Daniel Doerr, director of international admissions at the University of Colorado–Boulder, says exams are traditionally held in designated testing centers, but a recent push for increased accessibility has led to a variety of online options.
“Along these lines, Duolingo offers an affordable online exam that is increasingly accepted by colleges and universities, while TOEFL and IELTS implemented their own at-home exams as well,” Doerr says, referring to the Test of English as a Foreign Language and the International English Language Testing System.
When Elaine Zhu was applying to college, her city in Indonesia still had heavily imposed COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing. She says DET’s accessibility and lower cost were key reasons she chose it over its counterparts.
“The Duolingo English Test had a clear structure and instructions, which made it easy to complete on your own, and I was able to complete it in less than an hour in the comfort of my own home,” says Zhu, who is studying cybersecurity and criminal justice at Northeastern University in Massachusetts.
In comparison, the TOEFL and IELTS, also popular English proficiency exams, take up to three hours to complete, are traditionally administered in testing centers and can cost more than $200 each depending on where the test-taker is based.
“TOEFL, IELTS and most recently Duolingo are part of the college admission process,” says Juan-Camilo Tamayo, a higher education consultant and founder of JCT4Education, a higher education admissions consultancy in Florida. “I have seen and recommended to my students the three exams, and there is one key factor when I recommend Duolingo: access.”
Tamayo says at least 70% of the students his consultancy works with take the DET when applying to U.S. colleges.
What the Duolingo English Test Covers
Like the TOEFL and IETLS, the DET focuses on reading, listening, speaking and writing. However, one difference is that the DET is adaptive, meaning that the question difficulty adjusts to each test-taker based on skill level indicated during the test and depends on whether the previous question was answered correctly.
[Read: 3 Steps International College Students Should Take Before Coming to Campus]
“It tailors the difficulty of questions to the test-taker’s skill level and also allows more flexibility compared to other tests’ fixed format,” Zhu says. “Although I’ve only taken a TOEFL practice test rather than an official one, I found that the DET was less stressful and time-consuming, making it more representative of a student’s English language skills.”
Rather than long reading and writing prompts, Duolingo has short questions that measure the same skills. Some of the question types include filling in blank words in a passage, differentiating between real and fake English words and describing an image aloud or in writing, says Jennifer Dewar, head of strategic engagement for the Duolingo English Test.
The test also has an ungraded portion that consists of a video interview and writing sample. Exam results include an overall proficiency score on a 160-point scale and subscores of integrated skills, von Ahn says. Results are ready within two days and can be sent immediately to an unlimited number of schools at no additional cost.
“I was able to receive my results within two days and send them for free to my universities, unlike TOEFL and IELTS,” Zhu says.
Which Schools Accept the Duolingo English Test
More than 4,800 institutions use Duolingo as part of their admissions process, von Ahn says.
Dewar says students and colleges benefit from the normalization of accessible, digital testing and adds that digital testing is here to stay.
[A Guide to Scholarships for International Students]
“Universities have had the opportunity to study the DET for several admissions cycles now, and they are concluding that the DET should be an option for students alongside traditional tests.”
Angus Bowers, an adjunct professor at Duke University in North Carolina, says the university’s Pratt School of Engineering strongly prefers the DET for admissions.
“We find it tests actual language skills and not test-taking skills,” Bowers says. “It also makes testing fairer for all. Since we started accepting the DET, we’ve been able to reach the many talented students who can’t afford or don’t have access to other tests.”
While many colleges accept the Duolingo English Test, prospective international students should be aware that some schools, such as Georgia State University, no longer accept it. Others may accept the test only as an optional supplement to the TOEFL or IELTS.
International students should research their university choices to see which language tests are required.
“Overall,” Zhu says, “I would really recommend the Duolingo English Test to anyone who needs to provide an English proficiency test due to its increased accessibility, adaptive test format, lower costs and convenience.”
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Duolingo English Test and U.S. College Admissions originally appeared on usnews.com
