International students studying at an Intensive English Program(IEP) in the US must now study a minimum of 26 consecutive weeks before taking annual vacation, the federal government’s Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced last month. While longer, this federal mandate is consistent with many IEPs which usually require students to study 16 consecutive weeks, the equivalent of a traditional semester. Vacation is interpreted by IEPs as spending approximately 30 days in the US not attending classes. Usually, this time is spent studying for GMAT exams for example, or visiting and applying at universities for conditional admission. Temporary absence on the other hand is when the student leaves the US and can be away for a maximum of five months as long as they have provided the IEP a plane ticket showing their departure from the US and have the 3rd page of their I-20 signed by the IEP's Designated School Official.
International educators learned of the unpopular changes at the fifth annual American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP) advocacy day. During the meeting, educators learned that SEVP will start enforcing federal regulation which doesn’t allow conditional admission for university, common practice in the US, usually in the form of an I-20 being issued contingent on the student completing an IEP or obtaining a minimum IELTS score.
Recently, Education USA announced that for 2012, China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, & Canada were the top five countries sending students to US. For Chinese students, the I-20 to an IEP is contingent if the student has an conditional letter of admission to a university. In the case for these students, the change is highly problematic. Furthermore, in general, Chinese students typically place in the intermediate and advanced proficiency bands at IEPs meaning that they will have completed an IEP or obtained an acceptable IELTS/TOEFL score before the 26 consecutive weeks minimum. This means that the student will spend their time and money idle at the IEP. With no motivation to study at the IEP, only the student's integrity will keep the student attending classes at the IEP. An IEP is force to shorten the student's visa to their last day of attendance allowing the student 60 days from that day to find another school to be transferred to another school if a minimum of 18 hours per week is not logged at the IEP in accordance with SEVP. Saudi students may have a problem with this depending on if the start of their studies is 26 weeks prior to the month-long Ramadan holiday. While it is possible for students to study and partake in the fasting during Ramadan, it is common for students to return home for Ramadan, use their annual vacation, or not maintain their status with poor attendance. Furthermore, many Saudi students spend more than 26 consecutive weeks in an IEP. Lastly, unlike fellow Asian country, China, South Korean students do not need a conditional letter of admission as a prerequisite for F-1 visa to attend an IEP in the US. Like Japan, South Korea has relaxed visa conditions for being in the US. For example, Japanese and South Korean passport holders can be in the US on a 90-day visa waiver as long as they do not engage in employment. On the other hand, Chinese that don't receive a F visa are not eligible for the visa waiver but can be in the US on a B visa.
In layman’s terms, an international student on an F-1 visa who is enrolled at an IEP must complete the IEP or obtain a minimum IELTS/ TOEFL score. Once this has happened, the student has 60-days to leave the US. The new enforcement of old regulation means that once a student finishes their English course; they will have to apply for another I-20 for university. When they return to their home country after completion of the IEP or obtaining the IELTS/TOEFL score, the university that the student applied for will start the admission process and if accepted, the student will receive their initial I-20 at their permanent address in their home country. This I-20 will be taken by the student to the student’s nearest US embassy or consulate where their student visa will be issued/denied. While cumbersome, the new SEVP ruling requires students to do this at least twice since the student had to do this previously for their I-20 to the IEP. It remains to be seen if students that struggle to complete an IEP or obtain an acceptable IELTS/TOEFL score while studying in the US will be affected in obtaining their initial I-20 from the university. Students that return to their home country after brushing up on their English in the US ensuring success due to the rigors at the university will be charged extra fees and required to resubmit financial documents. Bank statements older than six months are invalid.
Previously, the student had 60-days to enroll in the program that they were conditionally admitted to or leave the US within 60 days of completion of the IEP. If the student’s program began within five months of their last day at the IEP, their I-20 could be transferred from the IEP to the university in which the student was conditionally admitted to. The student was to provide the IEP an admission letter issued by the university.
On the other hand, universities that facilitate their own IEPs have been in the practice of issuinf two admissions - the first for our intensive English program with an I-20, and the second for the academic program (admission letter only) for the following term. This has not been an issue with visa applications as long as the applicant can present the academic admission letter as well as the ESL I-20. Once they meet the English proficiency requirement, the international office issues a Change of Level I-20. The only problem we've had is once students meet the English requirement, they want to stop going to ESL classes, even if it is in the middle of the term. International offices are continuously having to educate students on the regulations so that they don't end up out of status for nonattendance.
It remains to be seen if this practice will suffice as the new federal mandate is mandated.
AAIEP opposes SEVP’s decision. They believe that SEVP does not acknowledge their advice in the policies that they make and are in shock of the new vacation and conditional letter policy changes.
SEVP says it does communicate guidance and ask for feedback on new policies through the Study in the States portal, its Facebook page and Twitter account. It is presumed that SEVP will probably post the draft guidance on the “Study in the States” website, and NAFSA has asked them to notify all SEVIS users through a SEVIS broadcast message that the draft guidance has been posted. NAFSA will also post the draft guidance on its website and send out a notification over ISTA.
The picture above was taken at an IEP on a campus in the US. Four of these students went on to matriculate to universities because they had conditional letters of admission. One other student was in need of a conditional letter of admission and was making use of their vacation periods and grace periods in order to obtain those letters as well as preparing for IELTS and GMAT exams. The four remaining students pictured were either business professionals who intended on using their English back in their home countries, a spouse of a F-1 student who was studying English for recreational reasons, or a high school student that was going to matriculate to an international high school in the US. While the IEP industry is shocked and disappointed, it is important to point out that IEPs on college campuses are not just for college-bound students. Lastly, while the picture of nine students is an ideal depiction of IEPs in the 2010s, more and more IEPs are heavily saturated with Saudi and Chinese students with a 70-30 ratio, all intending to move on to a university.
http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-12
1 comment:
Nice post about IELTS Score it is very important information for students
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