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Part-Time Enrollment

The Intensive English Program offers part-time enrollment to students (18 years or older) visiting or living in the Triangle area. If you are interested in improving aspects of your English proficiency, you can enroll in one or more of our academic English courses. Study English with others from around the world!

Depending on the semester schedule, classes may be offered throughout the day. Click here to view short IEP student videos about our program.

Benefits of IEP Part-Time Enrollment

  • Good value ($18 per contact hour)
  • Experienced ESL instructors
  • Ability to enhance academic and professional language skills
  • Convenient Raleigh location across from D.H. Hill Library

Time Commitment

Intensive English Program courses are college level courses; therefore, they are time-intensive.

The Intensive English Program is not designed for casual or social learners of English.

Generally speaking, for each course hour, you should plan on having one to two hours of work to complete outside of class. The amount of actual homework will depend on the course(s) you choose to take and the number of hours each meets per week.

IEP texbook close-up.

Levels of Instruction

Level 3Low-Intermediate
Level 4Intermediate
Level 5High-Intermediate
Level 5Low-Advanced

Course Options and Cost

Part-time students who do not intend to apply for undergraduate or graduate admission at NC State University can enroll in up to 22 class hours/week per semester with the IEP.

CourseTotal Course Hours/wkClass Meetings/wk 10-wk Summer 15-wk Fall, Spring
Conversation & Presentation Skills
90-min. classes2 days per week $510$811
Listening & Note-Taking for Academic Lectures
90-min. classes 2 days per week $510$811
Academic Reading & Vocabulary90-min. classes4 days per week $1020$1,622
Academic Writing, Research & Grammar 1.5-2 hour classes4-5 days per week $1360 or
$1700
$2311 or
$2883
American Life and University Culture75-minute class1 day a week$195$307

Important Notes:

  • Students in the Raleigh area who are over 18 years of age are eligible to take one or more IEP classes. NOTE: Our in-person classes are designed for students with intermediate to advanced levels of English proficiency.
  • Spring and fall semesters run 15-16 weeks; our summer session consists of 10 weeks of instruction.
  • Usually, all levels of instruction (intermediate, high-intermediate, and low-advanced) are offered each semester.
  • Part-time students are placed in regular IEP courses with our full-time English language students.
  • Refunds are issued following the university posted policy. A $10 administrative fee will be applied for every class withdrawal processed.
  • Because IEP part-time students do not pay university fees, they are not eligible to use university resources such as the recreational center/gym or student health services. In addition, they may not check out or borrow materials from the library.

Frequently Asked Questions

All part-time students are required to take the online IEP placement prior to the beginning of their first semester in the IEP. Upon registration, part-time students will be sent instructions on how to take our online proficiency test. The IEP staff will discuss the results of the test with the students and recommend courses that fit the students’ interests, abilities, and schedule.

Part-time students MAY take classes at different skill levels to account for their strengths in different skill areas and the result of their placement test. For example, a student with stronger speaking skills may take Conversation/Presentation Skills Level 5 at the same time as Reading/Vocabulary Level 4.

Tentative course schedules will be made available to interested part-time students approximately 1-2 weeks prior to the start date of the next available semester. Final course schedules will be available approximately three days before the first day of class. It is possible, but unlikely, that the schedule will have significantly changed during this time period.

Notes:

  • Part-time students are placed in classes with full-time students as long as there are sufficient seats available. Therefore, it is important to register early to secure your seat in a class.
  • Part-time students may indicate a preference for a given IEP instructor when registering for courses or in communication with the IEP. Generally, these requests will be honored unless there are insufficient spaces in the section requested. Please note that IEP staff make final placement determinations.

Part-time IEP students will be responsible for all of the work assigned by their instructors. At the end of each semester, they will receive a grade that represents their level of achievement in meeting the student learning outcomes for each course.

In order to advance to the next level for a specific skill, part-time students must achieve a grade of at least 83. This is to ensure that these students have met the student learning outcomes for their course so that they are ready for more challenging material at the next level of instruction. Students may not advance at a given skill level without having passed the course at the previous level of instruction.

Want to learn more about part-time enrollment in the IEP?

Send your questions to intensive-english@ncsu.edu or call us at 919-515-4002. We will do our best to answer your email as soon as possible.