Louisiana State University and Shorelight Announce New Program for International Students

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By Shorelight Team
Last updated on May 31, 2015

Since 2015, LSU Global has been welcoming international students to this first-year preparatory program collaboration between Louisiana State University and Shorelight.

This image shows Shorelight's company logo: a traditional fishing-style lantern in orange.

BOSTON, Mass. (July 16, 2015) — Louisiana State University and Shorelight today announced the creation of an innovative new program to support LSU’s efforts to attract, recruit and retain the most qualified and capable international students from across the world.

The newly created International Accelerator Program (IAP) will provide wraparound support to international students and help them thrive in LSU’s rigorous academic environment. The program will also assist them as they become an integral part of the LSU community and navigate the cultural and social differences of an American university education.

The IAP is a demanding academic program that combines intensive English language instruction with course work and supplemental support resources that help acclimate the students to LSU and the surrounding community. The program will be offered to students at multiple levels depending upon a student’s English proficiency level. Upon successful completion of the program, students will be eligible to enroll in LSU’s degree programs with sophomore status. The first students will be enrolled beginning in Fall 2015.

“We are thrilled to partner with LSU to bring the best international students from across the world to join LSU’s extraordinary community,” said Tom Dretler, CEO and cofounder of Shorelight. “Through this partnership, we will work with LSU to pair a rigorous academic curriculum with real-world resources available within and beyond the classroom, and we will provide the tools and services international students need to thrive at LSU.”

The new program comes at a time of increased demand from international students seeking an American college experience, while academic institutions are striving for more globally diverse campus environments. According to the Institute of International Education, a record setting 886,052 foreign students came to the United States to study in the 2013-2014 school year. With this partnership, LSU is uniquely positioned to attract top students from around the world to its campus while bringing global diversity and new perspectives to the LSU student body.

“We are looking forward to kicking off this program and assisting students from around the world in achieving their goal of an LSU degree,” Kurt Keppler, vice president for student life and enrollment services, said. “In the past few years, LSU has been enrolling and graduating some of the most diverse classes in the university’s history. Diversity benefits our entire community, and international diversity is a large part of that endeavor. We want to bring together Louisiana and US students with students from across the world, so they can learn from each other and share the experience of attending a rigorous but spirited and exciting university like LSU.”

Shorelight Education currently partners with top universities from across the country, including Auburn University, Florida International University, and the University of South Carolina.

About LSU

As the flagship institution of Louisiana, LSU is a leading research-extensive university, challenging undergraduate and graduate students to achieve the highest levels of intellectual and personal development. Designated as a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution, the mission of LSU is the generation, preservation, dissemination, and application of knowledge and cultivation of the arts.

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