First ESL Student to Earn a Bachelor's Degree

Ms. Selena Davant from France is our first ESL student to earn a bachelor's degree from Upper Iowa University.  She has made history!  Davant came to our ESL Institute in Fall 2009 (August), graduated from the ESL Institute in December 2009, became an undergraduate student in Spring 2010 (January), and graduated this May 2012 with honors and a major in communication.  We are very proud of her accomplishments while she was here at UIU!  Davant was very involved in a Greek club and student government.  Davant will now pursue a master's degree in fine arts here in the United States.  We wish her the very best!

You may have noticed that Davant graduated from the ESL Institute in one semester (16 weeks), and finished her bachelor's degree in two and a half academic years.  Every ESL student's journey at Upper Iowa is a little different.  Davant came to us with a higher English proficiency level, so she only needed one semester of ESL.  Then, because she had obtained some post-secondary credit in France, she was able to finish her degree a little faster.

Every ESL student's English proficiency is assessed upon arrival; accordingly, each student is placed in the appropriate ESL courses.  ESL students typically need one academic year (two 16 week semesters) to complete the ESL program before starting undergraduate studies.  After successful completion of the ESL program, ESL students can become undergraduate students without taking the TOEFL exam.  As an undergraduate student at Upper Iowa, you can earn your bachelor's degree within three years if you work quickly, but most earn their degree within four years.  Then again, if you have earned post-secondary credits prior to enrolling in the ESL Institute, you never know, you may end up finishing even faster like Davant.

If you would like to find academic success at Upper Iowa like Ms. Selena Davant, please contact Dr. Madalina Tincu, Coordinator for International Enrollment, at tincum@uiu.edu to learn how to apply to Upper Iowa.