Coastal Carolina University will offer an Academic English program for international students who want to study at CCU and other colleges and universities but lack the level of English to be successful. Operated in collaboration with ELS Language Center in Princeton, N,J., the center is slated to open in April 2015 and will provide four-week intensive English instruction to international students in four-week cycles year-round.

"These programs provide outstanding preparation for talented international students who otherwise meet admissions criteria, but lack English skills," says Darla Domke-Damonte, associate provost for global initiatives at CCU. "In addition, these programs help get students ready for the academic environment of U.S. universities, so that they can transition effectively and be successful."

The center will help support a strategic goal of increasing the number of international students at CCU to broaden the diversity of the growing campus. This fall semester, 95 international students from 36 countries are expected on CCU's campus.

"This program is anticipated to raise the awareness about CCU among international students and increase matriculation into CCU degree programs by international students," says Domke-Damonte.

CCU accepts completion of the ELS intensive English for Academic Purposes program as fulfillment of its English language proficiency requirement for admission.  ELS President and CEO Mark Harris observed, "Schools such as Coastal Carolina University offer an important additional option for the thousands of international students who come to ELS in order to improve their English and prepare for university success in North America.  As the number of international students who choose to further their higher education in the USA and Canada continues to grow, ELS counts on leading institutions such as CCU to build successful pathways for university achievement."

ELS also operates a facility at University Center in Greenville in cooperation with Clemson University. ELS has worked with more than 1.1 million students from 175 countries around the world, and currently has over 60 locations worldwide, including 50 on US university campuses. ELS Language Centers in the USA is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET) and is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant alien students.

For further information, contact Domke-Damonte at 843-349-2129 or ddamonte@coastal.edu.