What's Inside

2013: A Banner Year for CEA
2014 Commissioners Announced
December 2013 Grants of Accreditation
Commission Reviews for April 2014

2013: A Banner Year for CEA

Approximately 180 schools applied to the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation in order to meet the requirements of the 2010 Accreditation Act, which required all SEVP certified language training programs to be accredited by December 14, 2013. Thanks to the hard work and support of countless people, CEA was able to meet its goal of reviewing all these sites by the deadline.

This goal could not have been accomplished without extraordinary volunteer efforts, as well as the support of those programs and institutions that encouraged the professional involvement of their faculty and staff as on-site reviewers and commissioners. Here are some of the details behind these efforts:

• CEA added accreditation and reviewer workshops to its regular training schedule in 2012 and 2013.
• Over 100 English language professionals applied to be trained as reviewers.
• With each site visit requiring two reviewers, both experienced and new reviewers participated on two or more site visits in 2012 and 2013.
• The Commission, which makes accreditation decisions, added two additional meetings in 2013.
• In 2013 alone, the Commission reviewed 150 sites, nearly as many as had been reviewed in CEA’s 14-year history.
• To supplement staff activities, 12 former commissioners and experienced reviewers stepped forward to serve on site visits as CEA Representatives and help to ensure standards were applied consistently and fairly from visit to visit.
• Many university and international programs, which did not need to meet the requirements of the Accreditation Act, agreed to postpone their site visits to the first months of 2014, when CEA will conduct an additional 35 site visits.

With the numbers of accredited sites having tripled in the past two years, staffing has increased at the CEA office, with more professional staff added not only to manage applications for accreditation and re-accreditation, but also to handle increasing numbers of reports (such as annual reports and substantive change reports) and to process related applications for situations such as additional branches and changes of ownership.

The Commission and staff look forward to CEA’s future promoting excellence in the field of English language teaching and administration through accreditation of English language programs and institutions worldwide.

2014 Commissioners Announced

The 13 members of the CEA Commission are professionals who are committed to ensuring quality in English language teaching and administration throughout the world. As commissioners, they are responsible for the governance of CEA and for making accreditation decisions.

Each year new commissioners are elected to serve on the 13-member Commission to fill the places of those who have finished their terms. The Commission said goodbye in December to Dana Harper, Steve Thewlis, and Bill Wallace, who provided dedicated service to CEA over the past 3 years. The Commission also acknowledged Nancy Storer, who served an additional year as Commission Chair in 2013, the busiest time in CEA’s history.

At the same time, CEA welcomes Alexandra Rowe (University of South Carolina) who has graciously agreed to fill a vacant position on the Commission (2014-2015) and four new commissioners who were elected by the Constituent Council to serve from 2014 through 2016:

• Engin Ayvaz (Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey)
• Joanne Geddes (Lewis and Clark University)
• Brenda Robati (The Language Company)
• Donna Shaw (University of Oregon)

Members of the 2014 Executive Committee—Chair, Christa Hansen (Georgetown University), Chair-elect, Christine O’Neill (University of Pittsburgh), and Treasurer, Jim Scofield (ELS, Retired)—will work with the Commission and staff to continue to carry out CEA’s mission in the new year.

December 2013 Grants of Accreditation

The Commission announced the following decisions at its December 2013 meeting.

Granted 5-year initial accreditation

• Intercultural Institute of California, CA, USA
• Qatar University Foundation Program Department of English, Qatar

Granted 4-year continued initial accreditation

• English Language and Culture Institute, OR, USA
• English Language Institute, University of Texas at Arlington, TX, USA
• Florida English Language Institute, FL, USA
• Intensive English Program, Indiana University, IN, USA
• Learning for Academic Purposes, Weber State University, UT, USA
• Spanish-American Institute ESL–Plus Course of Study, NY, USA
• TIEP at Lamar, TX, USA

Granted 1-year initial accreditation

• Atlanta English Institute, GA, USA
• English as a Second Language Program, Los Angeles Pacific College, CA, USA
• English Language Study Center/Internexus Indiana, IN, USA
• ESL Program at The Institute for Health Education, NJ, USA
• Evergreen Academy, VA, USA
• Gulf Language School, TX, USA
• Hancock International College at Irvine, CA, CA, USA
• Intensive English Language Center, University of Nevada Reno, NV, USA
• LIC/LISMA Language Center Long Island, NY, USA
• LIC/LISMA Language Center Manhattan, NY, USA
• LIC/LISMA Language Center Palisades Park, NJ, USA
• LIC/LISMA Language Center Queens, NY, USA
• Uceda School of Boca Raton, FL, USA
• Uceda School of Elizabeth, NJ, USA
• Uceda School of Hackensack, NJ, USA
• Uceda School of Orlando I, FL, USA
• Uceda School of Orlando II, FL, USA
• Uceda School of West New York, NJ, USA
• Uceda School of West Palm Beach, FL, USA

Denied accreditation

• Bergen County Career Advancement Training, Inc. (BCCAT), NJ, USA (final)
• California English School, CA, USA (under appeal)
• CAMPUS Education Flushing, NY, USA (final)
• CAMPUS Education Jersey City, NJ, USA (final)
• CAMPUS Education Manhattan, NY, USA (final)
• CAMPUS Education Palisades Park, NJ, USA (final)
• CAMPUS Education San Francisco, CA, USA (final)
• International Language Plus, OH, USA (final)
• Tampa Language Center, FL, USA (final)
• Washington Language Institute, MD, USA (under appeal)

Decision deferred

• Sacred Heart University English Language Institute, CT, USA

Commission Reviews for April 2014

In accordance with 602.23 of US Federal Regulations for accrediting agencies, a recognized accrediting agency must provide public notice that an institution or program is being considered for accreditation and must provide an opportunity for third-party comment. Comments are taken into consideration by the Commission in making accreditation decisions. The following programs and institutions will be reviewed at the April 2014 meeting of the Commission. Comments must be submitted to CEA in writing prior to April 1, 2014. Submit comments by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For 4-year continued initial accreditation

• American Language Academy, NC, USA
• Educational and Cultural Interactions / Dallas, TX, USA
• Educational and Cultural Interactions / Oklahoma City, TX, USA
• English Language Institute, Sacred Heart University, CT, USA
• English Language Program, University of Michigan-Flint, MI, USA
• FLS International Boston Commons, MA, USA
• FLS International Citrus College, CA, USA
• FLS International Las Vegas Institute, NV, USA
• FLS International at Lock Haven University, PA, USA
• FLS International at Saddleback College, CA, USA
• FLS International at Tennessee Tech University, TN, USA
• Intensive English Programs, Monterey Institute of International Studies, CA, USA
• Intensive English Program, University of Northern Colorado, CO, USA
• INTERLINK Language Center at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
• Portland English Language Academy, OR USA
• South Beach Languages, FL, USA
• The Learning Institute of Texas, TX, USA

For 9-year continued accreditation

• Intensive English Program, Saint Michael's College, VT, USA

For initial accreditation

• American Language Program, Columbia University, NY, USA
• English Language Institute, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, USA
• English Language Institute, Gallaudet University, DC, USA
• English Language Program, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA, USA
• ESL Program Roanoke Campus, American National University, VA, USA
• Harvest English Institute / Long Branch, NJ, USA
• Harvest English Institute / Newark, NJ, USA
• Intensive English Institute, University of Maine, ME, USA
• Intensive English Language Program, University of Findlay, OH, USA
• Intensive English Program, Emporia State University, KS, USA
• International Christian Institute and Linguistics School, TX, USA
• International Language Academy of Washington D.C., VA, USA