INTO Oregon State English Programs Earn Accreditation

In a reversal, the general and academic English programs run by INTO Oregon State University have gained initial accreditation from the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). Oregon State’s intensive English institute lost its CEA accreditation in 2009 after the university partnered with the private, Britain-based INTO University Partnerships to offer English as a second language and “pathway” programs for international students. As Teresa D. O’Donnell, CEA’s executive director, explained, the partnership at that point fell outside the scope of CEA’s accreditation, which encompasses university-administered programs and independent language schools but made no provisions for public-private partnerships like INTO OSU’s. CEA has since altered its policies to allow for accreditation of such joint ventures if there is a direct reporting line from the English program to the university administration – meaning, in other words, that the director of the English language program reports to, say, a dean. (O'Donnell said that it is permissible under CEA's policies for there to be joint reporting lines, as long as one of the lines is to the university administration.) 

“Many innovations in higher education are met with resistance at first so this adjustment in policy from CEA is a great step in opening up the model for how private companies and public institutions can partner,” David Stremba, managing director for North America at INTO University Partnerships, said in a statement.

The English language programs at Colorado State University and the University of South Florida, both of which have partnerships with INTO, are also CEA-accredited. The fourth and newest INTO site in the U.S., INTO Marshall University, in West Virginia, is accepting its first students this fall.