It is my pleasure to welcome friends and teachers to graduation day at the ALA academy. How do we measure the time we’ve spent in ALA academy? In the beginning, we measured it in class periods, counting down the day to eventual freedom. As the days and weeks passed, we measured it in semesters, and later in years as we moved from being those first level students, to becoming graduating students who thought they had it all figured out. As young people, you will leave ALA academy and go many different directions.  However, you will always have your foundation here.  A foundation that comes from the combined efforts of your teachers and families. That foundation includes strong academics, but also much more.  It includes the work that you have done to learn to fix your own mistakes, to talk problems out with a friend to come to a resolution that serves everyone, to think independently about your learning and goals, and yes, most importantly a foundation built on respect. You will build on that foundation as you continue to discover who you are in your next exciting steps of life. Congratulations my fellow graduates of the level five. Wherever we go and whatever we do, may we always be friends when we meet again.

American Language Academy® (ALA) is pleased to announce that we are opening a new international campus in Saudi Arabia in August of this year, located at 6989 King Abdul Aziz Road- Al Nafel District, Riyadh 13312-2470.

ALA is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA), recognized by the US Department of Education, and approved by the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission (SACM) and Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). The campus will offer Academic English language programs and will serve female students in a newly renovated facility with seven classrooms. Students will receive instruction from qualified instructors who meet ALA and CEA’s rigorous faculty standards.

All students will have access to ALA’s over 90 US university partners that accept our Level 5 graduates with no TOEFL or IELTS score and offer conditional letters of admission to qualifying students. Students enrolled in our programs can complete their courses of study in Saudi Arabia, online, or transfer anytime to our campuses in the United States.

Students interested in applying to our location in Saudi Arabia can visit our website at www.ala.edu and apply at https://ala.edu/online-program-application-sa/.

For more information contact our Admissions Office at 336-285-1318 or admissions@ala.edu.

On Friday, April 24, 2019, American Language Academy (ALA) entered a Memorandum of Understanding for English Language Instruction Programs with the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The agreement was signed by ALA President Yuni Nguyen, UNCG Provost Dana Dunn PhD, and UNCG Director of International Recruitment Carol Mandzik.

The agreement allows ALA students who want to enroll at UNCG the opportunity to demonstrate their English language proficiency through graduation from ALA’s Intensive English Program Level 5 course instead of by meeting the TOEFL, IELTS, or another English standardized test score requirement. UNCG will also provide conditional letters of admission for students seeking to attend the university after finishing their studies at ALA.

UNCG was founded in 1891 and has been serving students for over 125 years. UNCG offers an array of on-campus and online degree programs in the fields of Science, Math, Business and Finance, Arts and Music, Humanities, Education, Information Systems, Public Health, Social Sciences, History, Culture, and Diversity Studies, and more. With over a hundred majors and minors to choose from, students have many educational and career possibilities.

For more information about UNCG go to https://intladmissions.uncg.edu/ or contact ALA at admissions@ala.edu,  336-285-7318, or visit our Student Services office on campus.

On Friday, February 15, 2019, American Language Academy (ALA) entered a Memorandum of Understanding for English Language Instruction Programs with American National University (ANU) located in Roanoke, Virginia. The agreement was signed by both American Language Academy President Yuni Nguyen and American National University President Frank Longaker.

The agreement allows ALA students who want to enroll at American National University the opportunity to demonstrate their English language proficiency through graduation from ALA’s Intensive English Program Level 5 course instead of by meeting the TOEFL, IELTS, or another English standardized test score requirement. American National University will also provide conditional letters of admission for students seeking to attend the university after finishing their studies at ALA.

American National University was founded in 1886 and has been serving students for over 130 years. American National University offers an array of on-campus, blended learning, and online degree programs in the career focused fields of Business & Accounting, Health Sciences, and Information Technology.

For more information about American National University go to www.an.edu/ or contact ALA at admissions@ala.edu, 336-285-7318, or visit our Student Services office.

On Wednesday, June, 21 2017, American Language Academy (ALA) entered a Memorandum of Understanding for English Language Instruction Programs with Bennett College located in Greensboro, North Carolina, which will be in effect through Spring 2020.
The agreement was signed by both American Language Academy President Yuni Nguyen and Bennett College President Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins on Bennett’s campus. The agreement allows ALA students who want to enroll at Bennett College the opportunity to demonstrate their English language proficiency through graduation from ALA’s Intensive English Program Level 5 course instead of by meeting the TOEFL, IELTS, or another English standardized test score requirement. Bennett will also provide a residential and cultural component to what ALA currently provides to its students in the Greensboro area.
Serving students for over 140 years, Bennett College was founded in 1873 as a historically black coed institution. In 1926 in it became a women’s only college. Since then, Bennett’s mission had been to provide “women an education conducive to excellence in scholarly pursuits; preparation for leadership roles in the workplace, society, and the world; and life-long learning in a technologically advanced, complex global society” (Bennett College).
Bennett offers 24 different areas of study in the fields of Education, Social Sciences, Humanities, and in Natural and Behavioral Sciences and Mathematics.
The addition of Bennett College brings the total number of ALA partner colleges and universities to over 75.
For more information about Bennett College go to www.bennett.edu or contact ALA at inquire@ala.edu, or visit our Student Services office.

Photography credit: Shaakira Jones