International Education Matters

A Forum for Issues Pertaining to
Intensive English Programs

POSITION STATEMENT ON ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

November 17, 2003

As organizations that represent Intensive English programs and seek to promote quality and professionalism in these programs across the United States, UCIEP and AAIEP hold the following positions with regard to international education, and Intensive English programs in particular.

1. UCIEP and AAIEP stand for free and open educational exchange among the students and educators from the United States and countries around the world, in particular in the area of English Language education.
   
   
2. UCIEP and AAIEP support visa authorization and entry processes to the USA ensuring the safety of United States citizens, while at the same time affording respect, reasonable expense, and ease of access to American education for international students. Ideally, UCIEP and AAIEP would like to see Intensive English Programs exempted from the $100 SEVIS fee.
   
   
3. UCIEP and AAIEP would ultimately like to see the repeal or revision of legislation that requires (by the end of 2004) that all visa applicants to the United States should have a visa interview and provide biometric data. This requirement imposes an enormous strain on US Consular posts overseas, and it is unclear what the security benefits are.
   
   In the interim, UCIEP and AAIEP would like to see regulations that would exempt from interviews those students from countries that pose no security threat (such as S. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and many countries in Latin America).
   
   
4. UCIEP and AAIEP strongly believe in upholding professional standards. Through NAFSA and other professional organizations, UCIEP and AAIEP are promoting a move towards accreditation of all schools (either by ACCET, CEA, or through their host institution) in order to have authorization to issue I-20s. (The I-20 is a document a student needs to obtain a visa at a US Embassy or Consulate.)
   
   
5. UCIEP and AAIEP urge the Bureau for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) to enforce its own 9, 12, and 18 hour rules for graduate, undergraduate, and ESL study. UCIEP and AAIEP do not believe ‘free study’ in unsupervised computer laboratories should be considered eligible for fulfilling these hours. This is the case for some commercial ESL ‘schools’ that are poorly regulated.
   
   
6. UCIEP and AAIEP support the use of the B visa (for tourism and business) for short-term programs of ESL study that do not lead to formal qualifications. UCIEP strongly believes that the USA should match Canada’s position on visas: namely that a B Visa is appropriate for students of English as a Second Language who wish to study English for 6 months or less.
   
   
7. UCIEP and AAIEP urge the Department of Commerce to join with the Department of State to launch a campaign urging international students to study in the States and promising:
   1. faster turn processing of visas processing (because of item 2)
   2. visa approvals for ESL study will be approved at the same rate as other student visas.
   3. Intensive English programs will be widely promoted through Fullbright scholarships, as well as publicity through overseas advising offices supported by the State Department.
      
      
8. UCIEP and AAIEP also believe that the Department of State should review its policy on admitting students from the People’s Republic of China for ESL study. UCIEP and AAIEP believe that a significant number of people from the PRC could profit from learning English in the US, and would then return home to use their English skills, and promote better understanding between China and the United States. Currently, our competitors in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand are profiting from the fact that the US routinely denies visas for ESL study by young Chinese in the USA.

This file was updated on November 17, 2003