Faculty: Mishelle Pasinato, Andrea Whittemore

Courses in the Intensive English Program (IEP) focus on academic English and are designed to help international students acquire the English language skills necessary to enter and succeed in college level classes and programs. Pierce College English proficiency requirements are discussed in the Getting Started section of this catalog.

International students enrolled in IEP attend classes for 20 hours per week per quarter (10 weeks). IEP classes are taught at four levels of English proficiency: beginning, intermediate, high intermediate and advanced. All language skill areas are addressed: grammar, reading, writing, listening and speaking, with lessons on conversation skills and pronunciation included.

All IEP courses are non-credit and non-transferable, and will not count toward associate degree graduation requirements.

International students who complete a portion of their IEP classes may be able to register for credit-bearing academic classes in addition to their remaining IEP classes. The academic classes will be chosen with the help of an advisor. Students who are taking a mixture of IEP and academic courses will need to be in class for at least 15 hours per week.

The following courses are offered each quarter:
IE 11/21/31/41 Reading and Writing 1-4
IE 12/22/32/42 English Grammar 1-4
IE 13/23/33/43 English Listening and Speaking 1-4

Student Learning Outcomes available at https://my.pierce.ctc.edu/webapps/dci/detail.aspx?uid=61.