TOEFL Should Be Mandatory: The Case of Higher Learning It is no secret that there have been efforts in different parts of the world that aim to improve the educational system. These efforts manifest themselves in raising the bar in educational standards. At the very heart of this revolution is the quandary on the need to make Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), which has been a divisive one since there are those who argue that this is not relevant given the high rate of usage of the English language, albeit it is not one’s native tongue. In succinct, TOEFL is a standardized test of English language proficiency that is in status quo taken by non-native English speakers when they want to enroll in any United States (US) university like Columbia University, Stanford University and even less popular schools (Sharifan 193). However, there have been recent requirements in non-US universities that include the need to take TOEFL should one wish to enroll in other universities, e.g. National University of Singapore and Oxford University. In fact, according to TOEFL (1), there are over 9,000 educational institutions that value this Standard English proficiency test as one’s passport to enter these institutions, and these institutions are located in over 130 countries. Corollary to these trends, it is therefore relevant to put forward an essay that stresses supports on the mandatory requirement of TOEFL for every non-native English speaker who wants to pursue further studies in higher learning. For clarity, this essay refers to higher learning as a formal learning occurring after secondary school or high school, which is fundamentally acquired in a college or a university. The following discussions would shed light on four p... ... middle of paper ... ...to boost TOEFL levels | The Japan Times." Japan Times. N.p., 29 May 2013. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. . Northrup, David. How English became the global language. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Print. Phakiti, Aek, David Hirsch, and Lindy Woodrow. " It’s not only English: Effects of other individual factors on English language learning and academic learning of ESL international students in Australia ." Journal of Research in International Education 12.3 (2013): 239-258 . Print. Sharifian, Farzad. English as an international language perspectives and pedagogical issues. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2009. Print. TOEFL. "For Test Takers." TOEFL: Home. N.p., 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.