College Partners With ILI

Marlboro College is pleased to announce a new partnership with the International Language Institute of Massachusetts (ILI), a Northampton-based, not-for-profit language school promoting intercultural understanding through high-quality language instruction. Through an agreement signed by both parties in March 2016, international students from around the world who need an English-language intensive program can start at ILI and then continue on at Marlboro College to complete their education.

“We have a lot in common with ILI, in terms of our campus culture and educational philosophy, and this will be a very natural progression for many students coming to us from overseas,” said Maggie Strassman, director of international services at Marlboro. “Not only does ILI provide international students with the kind of language training that can help them succeed in a challenging liberal arts curriculum, ILI also provides an introduction to the academic culture of an American college experience, which is also so crucial for success here.”

LAs part of ILI’s University Pathways Program, Marlboro will join a handful of other colleges and universities promoted by ILI for further study. Students who start their language training at ILI will receive promotional materials, recommendations, and other encouragement to continue their undergraduate or graduate education at Marlboro. Likewise, international students who apply to Marlboro can be granted conditional acceptance based on reaching a certain language competency at ILI first.

“One of the biggest barriers to international students attending Marlboro is the high proficiency in English needed to engage in academic scholarship,” said Maggie. Marlboro requires a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 90, among the highest proficiency requirements of cohort colleges. “This ILI partnership is a win-win arrangement that will make Marlboro more accessible to, and more recognized by, students from around the world.”