The English as a Second Language (ESL) Program offers courses for undergraduate and graduate students for whom English is not the first language. The primary goal of the ESL program is to prepare students for participation in an American academic community.

All incoming graduate students whose first language is not English are required to take the written and oral English Language Placement Examination (ELPE) unless they have received an exemption from the Graduate Division. Placement in ESL courses is based on students’ performance on these examinations. In addition, all prospective teaching assistants are required to take the TA Language Evaluation in order to be certified for sole classroom teaching responsibility.

New undergraduates whose first language is not English may be required to enroll in ESL courses as determined by their performance on the Analytical Writing Placement Exam. Students placed in these ESL courses must successfully complete them before they can enroll in the required freshman writing sequence.

Note that our program does not offer a certificate or degree in the teaching of English as a second language. A certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) is available through UCSB Extension.