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In this issue
01 Featured: What HRSA’s updated English proficiency scores mean for boards
02 Meet our Professional Nursing Advisory Group
03 Conference recap: CLEAR in Portland
04 New from TEC: The Educational System of Morocco
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01 / Featured article
What HRSA’s updated English proficiency scores mean for nursing boards
HRSA sets the approved English proficiency tests and minimum scores for federal healthcare worker certification. Its previous list, in effect since May 2022, added tests beyond TOEFL and IELTS, but the required scores did not reflect comparable levels of proficiency. After requesting public comment in November 2024, HRSA updated the list on May 12, 2026. Our Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, Mukul Bakhshi, breaks down what changed and what boards may want to review.
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Not every score went up. For registered nurses, PTE Academic moved from a minimum of 50 on each section to 76 in speaking and 62 in reading, writing, and listening. IELTS is unchanged at 6.5 overall and 7 in speaking. TOEIC is no longer on the list. Check the full federal table rather than assuming every test changed the same way. |
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TOEFL has its own deadline. TOEFL iBT moved from a 0–120 scale to a 1–6 band scale this year. Boards have until January 2028, when TOEFL stops reporting both scores, to adjust their standards. |
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Federal and state rules are separate. A federal certificate does not authorize practice, and meeting state licensure rules does not necessarily satisfy federal certification. If your rules reference a fixed test list, it likely did not change just because HRSA’s did. |
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Plan the transition. Boards reviewing their standards may want to look at who must test, alternative evidence of proficiency, score validity periods, and combined scores from multiple sittings, with clear rules for tests already taken and applications in progress. |
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02 / Professional Nursing Advisory Group
The nurses who advise our nursing services
We established the Professional Nursing Advisory Group (PNAG) to bring experienced nurse leaders into how we evaluate nursing credentials. Its members bring expertise in nursing education, NCLEX preparation, curriculum development, and clinical practice. They help guide the standards for our nursing services, including our Nursing Course Analysis and VisaKey, so that our work meets the professional and regulatory standards boards rely on. They also contribute to standards for the future of nursing education.
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Dr. Jasper Erwin Tolarba
PNAG Chair
DNP, M.Ed., RN, CNE, CGNC, FACHE, FFNMRCSI, FAAN
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Dr. Tolarba is the inaugural Beatrice Hofstadter White Endowed Chair for Nursing Practice, Education, Research, and Innovation at Nuvance Health System and Sacred Heart University. He was the first internationally educated nurse to serve as a Director at the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, and he has held clinical leadership roles at Tufts Medical Center, Aya Healthcare, Yale New Haven Hospital, and Saint Mary’s Hospital.
He earned his DNP in Systems and Health Policy at Yale University, was a 2019–2020 Fulbright Fellow to Jordan, and is pursuing an EdD in Nursing Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He founded the Society of Internationally Educated Nurses in North America (SIENNA) and serves as Sigma Theta Tau International’s 2024–2027 Liaison to the United Nations. Few people have seen the path of an internationally educated nurse from as many sides, and that perspective shapes the guidance he brings to our nursing evaluations.
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03 / Conference recap
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CLEAR 2026 Annual Educational Conference
September 14–17, 2026 · Portland, OR
Mukul Bakhshi, our Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, and Talia Freelund, Senior Institutional Liaison, joined more than 500 regulators in Portland for CLEAR’s 46th Annual Educational Conference. Four days of sessions on entry to practice standards, testing, and regulatory governance, and plenty of conversations with board staff about how credential evaluations fit into licensure review.
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| Mukul at the CLEAR booth in Portland. |
Service dogs in training were working the exhibit floor alongside everyone else. |
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04 / New from TEC
The Educational System of Morocco, 2026 Edition
Our educational profile of Morocco has been updated for 2026. The guide walks through the full system, from preschool to doctorate, and this edition adds the reforms that have reshaped Moroccan higher education and medical training since it was first published. It is written by Kathleen Freeman, Senior Credential Analyst Consultant, who taught English in Morocco with the Peace Corps and has written country profiles for AACRAO EDGE.
For nursing reviewers
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Sample nursing credentials. Three examples, from a specialized technician diploma and a state diploma to a bachelor’s degree in nursing professions and health techniques. |
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A French, Arabic, and English glossary. Useful when the document in front of you isn’t in English. |
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Ask an Evaluator
Is there a nursing credential your board keeps coming back to? Send it over, and we’ll answer one in every issue.
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