CONTACT: Clara Mae Marcotte
512-593-4143
INTENSIVE ENGLISH INSTITUTE AT TAMUK
ACQUIRED BY SYLVAN LEARNING SYSTEMS
KINGSVILLE (October 27, 1998) -- Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc., has signed an agreement to purchase Intensive English Institute (IEI) of Portland, Oregon. IEI has 10 year-round English as a Foreign Language schools in the United States including the one at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. With the purchase of IEI, Sylvan will host more than 25,000 students in 32 year-round language schools in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland.
Gary Gunderson, Texas A&M University-Kingsville director of IEI, said one of the goals of the IEI is for students to be prepared for and to pass the TOEFL, Test of English as a Foreign Language. "The number of students we put into Texas A&M-Kingsville is continuing to grow over the last four years," Gunderson said. "Many of the international students we talk to are interested in the programs offered here."
Tom Ericsson, president of Sylvan subsidiary ASPECT International Language Schools, said, "Sylvan's acquisition of IEI is a significant step toward Sylvan's objective to become the world's premier provider of English language services. Both companies (IEI and ASPECT) offer high quality English instruction in an immersion setting along with excellent multimedia facilities to augment the classroom teaching."
For more information on the IEI, contact Gunderson at 512-593-2774 or e-mail at
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