ELS Educational Services Establishes Full Tuition Academic Scholarships to Aid Rescued Research Scholars

Scholarship Program Provides Critical English Language Training to Scholars Supported by the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund

NEW YORK & PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ELS Educational Services, a leading provider of English language instruction for international students, today announced it will cover full tuition of its ELS English for Academic Purposes Programs for international scholars and their spouses rescued and supported by the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF). The ELS Scholarship Program provides important access to training at no cost to help these individuals quickly master the English language and continue their academic work safely and effectively through the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund.

“ELS scholarships will be our contribution towards the successful transition of threatened scholars to their new roles, where they can continue to be productive in their research and teaching work in safety.”

Available to SRF scholars to use at any of the 63 ELS Language Centers across the United States, the ELS scholarships plays a key role in enabling threatened professors, researchers, students and public intellectuals to continue their work and ensuring their academic contributions to their host institutions.

“Since our founding in 1919, the Institute of International Education has worked to protect students and scholars in danger,” said Dr. Allan Goodman, President and CEO of IIE. “We are very grateful to ELS for joining in our efforts to enable threatened scholars to continue their work by offering generous scholarships for English language instruction.”

Applications are now open for SRF Fellows to apply to the ELS Scholarship Program, which covers full tuition of one or more four-week long (30 hours/week) ELS English language training sessions, in addition to textbooks, materials, and application fees.

“The IIE’s program is a humanitarian extension of sanctuary in support of the rights of equality, freedom of religion and free-speech, to which ELS is fully committed,” said Mark W. Harris, President and CEO of ELS. “ELS scholarships will be our contribution towards the successful transition of threatened scholars to their new roles, where they can continue to be productive in their research and teaching work in safety.”

“The opportunity that ELS is providing to SRF scholars is an important tool that will help them to advance their scholarship and to communicate their academic expertise—as well as their experiences as threatened and persecuted scholars—to a broader audience,” said Jim Miller, Executive Director of SRF.

ELS continually offers a range of support to students from affected countries who are studying in the United States and are suddenly cut off from their families and without funds for study or for living expenses. The ELS Scholarship Program was created specifically in cooperation with IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund to help threatened scholars rapidly master English in order to teach, conduct research and otherwise be successful in their transition to the U.S. and other places around the world.

Only IIE SRF Fellows are eligible for this scholarship. If you are an SRF Scholar and wish to apply, contact [e-mail]. For information about other English language study programs available through ELS, please contact us at http://www.els.edu/en/ContactUs.

For media inquiries only, please contact John Nicholson at [e-mail] for information about ELS, and Sharon Witherell at [e-mail] for information about IIE and SRF.

About the Institute of International Education

IIE is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. An independent, not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, IIE has network of 19 offices and affiliates worldwide and over 1,200 member institutions. IIE designs and implements programs of study and training for students, educators, young professionals and trainees from all sectors with funding from government agencies, foundations, and corporations. IIE also conducts policy research and program evaluations, and provides advising and counseling on international education and opportunities abroad. IIE's Center for International Partnerships in Higher Education assists higher education institutions in developing and sustaining partnerships around the world. www.iie.org

About IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund

The Scholar Rescue Fund provides fellowships for established scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries. These fellowships permit professors, researchers and public intellectuals to find temporary refuge at universities, colleges and research centers anywhere in the world, enabling them to pursue their academic work in safety and to continue to share their knowledge with students, colleagues and the community. In its first 10 years, SRF has provided fellowships to nearly 500 remarkable scholars from 50 countries, including leading an effort of historic proportion to save the intellectual capital of Iraq. The Iraq Scholar Rescue Project has saved the lives and work of more than 265 of Iraq’s most senior and threatened academics in a wide range of academic disciplines through temporary academic positions at universities, colleges and other institutions of higher learning in the Middle East and North African regions. www.scholarrescuefund.org

About ELS

ELS Educational Services offers over 50 years of expertise in assisting international students—more than 1,100,000 to date—achieve their personal and professional goals through English preparation and professional counseling. ELS assists international students identify and gain entry to higher education institutions in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. ELS has the largest network of campus-based English language instruction centers in the world (ELS Language Centers), offering 69 study locations in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, China and Malaysia with the majority of locations on university campuses. Fourteen additional English language instruction centers are located throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Panamá, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. More than 650 universities worldwide accept completion of an advanced ELS level (Intensive English Program) as proof of English proficiency, thereby meeting the English language proficiency requirement for admission. ELS annually facilitates enrollment of thousands of international students into degree programs, thus expanding their future possibilities. http://www.els.edu/en