international students discussing

The International Teaching Assistant Program supports Temple University’s commitment to teaching excellence and linguistic and cultural diversity. It also fosters a learning environment where undergraduate students can benefit from interaction with international teaching assistants.

By law in Pennsylvania, all university classroom instructors who are not native English speakers must be certified in English before they may begin teaching.  International graduate assistants must register with the ITA Program to verify English language proficiency.

Steps to verification of English language proficiency:

  1. Register as a Temple University ITA. At the point of registration you can submit documentation for TU ITA Test exemption.
  2. If you are not exempt from taking the TU ITA Test, the ITA Program Team will reach out to you to schedule the test.  
  3. If you do not receive a score of 30 or above on the TU ITA Test and you are not exempt, you must take the Graduate Level English Communication (GLEC) course which will provide language support through coursework that focuses on participation, presentation skills and pronunciation.
  4. If you have any questions, please contact us at ita@temple.edu.

Taking the TU ITA Test

Frequently Asked Questions