ELI prepares students for AUBG

The center will soon move to the Main Building (Photo by Teodora Ion-Rotaru)

Conditional admits from the English Language Institute (ELI) represent two thirds of the 30 students who confirmed their enrollment at AUBG for the Spring 2009 semester, the Board Report reads.

“The Academic Program is the main objective of the English Language Institute,” ELI Director Elena Bikova said, as it works on improving language skills of applicants whose SAT and TOEFL scores were under the acceptance line for AUBG. This semester, 20 students followed the ELI path and enrolled as AUBG freshmen.

International students can apply to ELI only through AUBG. “The university accepts the students conditionally and directs them to the ELI for preparation,” Bikova said. After they study at the Institute and obtain a score above 80 for the TOEFL, and above 1000 for the SAT, they become regular AUBG students.

Bulgarians who attend ELI do not always plan on enrolling at AUBG. “Some of them have diplomas and certificates and degrees from other universities, but […] they haven’t had the chance to learn English,” Bikova said. They can attend ELI for one or two semesters, and are not forced to apply to the university, she added.

The Academic Program of the Institute is organized in three modules, according to the student’s level of English. Module 1 is designed for beginners, module 2 for intermediate level students, and module 3 is for advanced students. The Institute offers all three modules every fall and spring. Module three is shorter, as at the end students have to pass TOEFL and SAT. If their scores are big enough, they can return the next semester as full-time AUBG students.

For the past two years, AUBG has offered waivers to some of the fall module 3 students. Usually, the university conditionally admits 30 to 50 students who are offered scholarships for attending ELI, Bikova said. Some of them accept the offer and attend the courses of the Institute. The rest of the ELI students have to pay the fees. While last year the waiver represented 75 per cent of the accommodation and tuition fees, Bikova said, this year it covers 77.5 per cent of the tuition. Module 3 costs €800, while the first two modules cost €1300 each.

ELI itself does not offer scholarships because it is a self-sustaining institution. “We don’t get any other donations or support, and that’s why we cannot afford to offer students scholarships,” Bikova said. The ELI instructors earn better wages than language teachers in Bulgarian high-schools, but their salaries are much lower than those of university professors, Bikova added. She said that non-native English teachers need to have a Master’s degree in teaching English, while native speakers should have at least a Bachelor’s degree in the area of humanities.

All of the 20 ELI students who received a waiver for the Fall 2008 semester got accepted into AUBG. “[…] there is only one ELI sponsored student who confirmed but did not enroll as a first year regular student,” Director of Admissions Yordanka Melnikliyska said. The student will re-take module 3 in order to improve his test results and is committed to enroll in Fall 2009, she added.

ELI conditionally admitted students do not receive any privileges when enrolling at AUBG. “The regular admissions requirements apply to all conditionally admitted students who go through a semester of intensive English preparation at ELI, take SAT and TOEFL at the end, and are then reviewed by the admissions committee for regular admissions for the spring with all other applicants,” Melnikliyska said. They are reviewed for financial aid like the regular students and are eligible for scholarships, she added.

The international ELI students live either in Skaptopara or in Hilltop, depending on the free spots. As AUBG students are a priority, usually there are no places in Skaptopara during the fall semester. “There’s a shortage of space […] and some students go and live in […] Hilltop and these are always ELI students,” Bikova said. They pay for accommodation as much as AUBG students do.

Student Natallia Listapad was conditionally admitted to AUBG and attended ELI during the Fall 2008 semester. She had applied to AUBG but her scores were not high enough. It was then that she heard about ELI. “[I] decided to go, get better preparation, and try to enter AUBG again,” Listapad said. Now, she is a first-semester AUBG student.

Apart from the Academic Program, the English Language Institute is also offering community oriented programs for children and adults, summer schools, programs meant to help the minorities, and a European project intended to help the employees of a pharmaceutical company learn English.