1998 News

CGFNS Begins to Use the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in its Certification Program

PHILADELPHIA, PA — JANUARY 2, 1998 — CGFNS has chosen to use the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in an effort to meet not only the English Language requirements of the individual state boards of nursing, but also the new U.S. Federal Government requirements that went into effect with the signing of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). One of the requirements under this law is that selected internationally educated health care professionals (including nurses) will have to meet specific English language proficiency requirements in order to obtain an occupational visa to work in the United States. One of these requirements is the TOEFL examination.

Consequently, CGFNS determined that to continue to use its own English exam would unduly burden its applicants by requiring them to sit for two English examinations. Since TOEFL is required for Federal immigration screening, CGFNS applicants who take the TOEFL examination as part of the Certification Program will partially meet the Federal requirements.

The TOEFL examination is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) at more than 1200 exam centers in 180 countries and areas worldwide. To accommodate this volume of centers, specially prepared versions of the Bulletin of Information for TOEFL, TWE and TSE have been developed for specific geographic areas. Copies normally are distributed at United States educational commissions, foundations, United States Information Service (USIS) offices, and private educational organizations. If you are unable to obtain a bulletin locally, please contact: TOEFL/TSE Publications, Test of English as a Foreign Language, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ 08541-6151 Telephone (609) 771-7100, http://www.toefl.org.

The Bulletin will include all of the registration, administration and review information needed to apply for the TOEFL examination. All questions relating to the TOEFL exam should be directed to TOEFL Services at the address and telephone number indicated above, or to the regional distribution centers noted on the back cover of the Bulletin of Information for TOEFL, TWE, and TSE.

When filling out the registration forms for TOEFL, use the following code number when identifying score recipients: 9988. This number is extremely important as it specifically identifies you as a CGFNS candidate and ensures that your test results will be forwarded directly to CGFNS by ETS for inclusion in your file as soon as your results are available. Once you have registered for TOEFL, please be sure to forward your registration number to CGFNS so that your TOEFL results can be matched with your file.

For other questions regarding the Certification Program please contact: CGFNS Customer Service, 3600 Market Street, Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19104, telephone (215)-349-8767.