As a College of Arts and Sciences center with programmatic accreditation through the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA), the English Language Center (ELC) continues to meet a key part of its mission of preparing students to participate fully in the Drexel community, including gaining admission to undergraduate and graduate programs of study. 

The ELC held a Decision Day 2025 party at Lucky Strike in Center City Philadelphia on May 1 in celebration of ELC students on their confirmations to Drexel and other colleges and universities across the U.S. All 26 Omani scholarship students at the ELC have been working to increase their English proficiency and gain admission to one of only 110 institutions approved by their Ministry of Higher Education. Seven of these students decided to matriculate to Drexel. Two of their colleagues from Penn’s English Language Programs and one from the University of Delaware’s English Language Institute also selected Drexel, filling the enrollment cap of 10 per academic year set by the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman – Cultural Division.  

Additional students currently studying at the ELC who will matriculate to Drexel this fall include three from Kuwait who will start undergraduate programs and one from Tajikistan who will start a graduate program. The ELC will also welcome at least 11 provisionally admitted students from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine and Vietnam into the University Preparation (UPrep) program this summer. These students will matriculate into their undergraduate programs after successful completion of UPrep.  

The ELC will also restart the International Gateway program this fall. Students in this conditional admission program study for two to four quarters in English as a Second Language and College of Arts and Sciences credit courses, then matriculate to undergraduate programs at Drexel. Students currently confirmed to start this fall are from China, Senegal and Vietnam.  

The ELC supplements classroom instruction in academic English with acculturation activities designed to help students feel like they are a part of the Drexel community. Previous research conducted by members of the ELC shows how this can increase the first-year retention and graduation rates after they matriculate. The ELC will work to expand its success in guiding students to matriculated study at Drexel.