Students whose native language is not English must show proficiency in English before being admitted to the college as instructed by the Office of International Student Admissions and Advising. Students who graduated from a high school outside the United States must present a satisfactory TOEFL score. Students with scores that admit them to Georgia Perimeter College will be given the ESL Placement Test before advisement and registration. The score on this test will be used to determine appropriate placement into ENSL or English courses.
 
Criteria for Determining ESL Placement
All entering students who are non-native speakers of English must take the ESL sections of the Compass placement examination and the ESL placement writing sample, except for the categories of students listed below:

• Students with national SAT I verbal scores of 480 or above or national ACT English score of 20 or above or GHGST-ELA score taken May 2010 or later of 260 or above  and who do not have a College Preparatory Curriculum (CPC) deficiency in English
• Students who have a TOEFL score of 550 paper or 79 iBT or better who are not CPC deficient in English
• Students who have passed (grade of "D" or better) a transferable course equivalent to ENGL 1101 at any University System of Georgia institution and who do not have a CPC deficiency in English
• Students who have earned a "C" or better in a transferable course equivalent to English 1101 at a non-University System of Georgia institution and who do not have a CPC deficiency in English

English as a Second Language (ESL) Program
The English as a Second Language program provides instruction in speaking, listening, reading, and writing for non-native speakers of English. The program is designed to prepare students in the language skills necessary for successful academic work at Georgia Perimeter College. ESL courses are available on the Clarkston and Dunwoody campuses. The following is a list of the courses that are offered in the ESL program:

Prerequisites for College-Level Classes
Students who are enrolled in ENSL courses are restricted as to which other courses they may take while taking ENSL courses.  Students should consult this catalog to determine course prerequisites.  Students who take courses that violate the prerequisite requirements can be withdrawn from those courses at anytime in the semester with loss of their tuition and credit hours.  This may adversely affect their full-time status.  In addition, students are subject to the student disciplinary procedures as described in the Student Handbook for knowingly violating course prerequisites.

Registration
During each semester of enrollment, ESL students must first register for all required ESL courses before registering for other courses. This requirement applies to full-time and part-time students.

30-Hour Rule
Students in the ESL program may not accumulate more than 30 hours of college-level credit before completing all ESL and Learning Support mathematics requirements. Any ESL student who accumulates 30 hours of college-level credit and has not successfully completed all ESL and Learning Support mathematics requirements is permitted to enroll only in ESL courses or only in Learning Support mathematics courses until the student has completed all requirements.

Transfer
Any ESL student who transfers credit hours to Georgia Perimeter College and who is required to take ESL courses or Learning Support mathematics courses may earn up to 30 additional hours of college-level credit. After earning 30 additional hours at Georgia Perimeter College without meeting ESL program requirements and Learning Support mathematics requirements, the student may enroll only in ESL courses or in Learning Support mathematics courses.

Withdrawal from ESL Courses
Any ESL student who is enrolled only in ESL or Learning Support mathematics courses may withdraw from one or more of these courses. Students with F-1 visas, however, are required to take at least 12 credit hours per semester and must see the International Student Adviser before withdrawing from any course. Any ESL student who is enrolled in both ESL/Learning Support mathematics and college-level courses and withdraws or is withdrawn from any ESL or Learning Support course before mid-term will also be withdrawn from all college-level courses. A student should consult the Office of Financial Aid prior to any student initiated withdrawal to understand the financial outcomes.

Academic Progress and Readmission
Any ESL student who does not earn a grade of “C” or higher in an individual ESL course (ENSL  0071, 0072, 0073, 0081, 0082, 0083, 0091, or 0093) in a maximum of three attempts in the same course is suspended from Georgia Perimeter College for one year and is not permitted to take any courses.  After three failed attempts to pass the same course, a student will be excluded from the institution and will have one of two options below for readmission.

Option I 
Readmission with Placement Testing:  ESL students excluded from GPC may be readmitted after completing one full year of exclusion.  Students must re-test on the ESL placement test and may be required to repeat courses or take lower level courses than those they were taking before the exclusion.
 
Option II
Readmission without Placement Testing:  ESL students excluded from GPC may be readmitted without placement testing and without a designated time frame if they have all of the following:

• Transfer credit for English 1101 from a regionally accredited college or university, including SACS-COC (Commission on Colleges) accredited technical institutions.
  and
• 30 semester hours (or quarter hours equivalent) of acceptable college level credit from a regionally accredited college or university, including SACS-COC accredited technical institutions.

 
Exiting from ESL
To exit the ESL program, students must be exempt from or have earned a "C" or better in all required ENSL courses. Any ESL student who does not earn a "C" or better in a required ENSL course must repeat that course.