Frequently Asked Questions

Academic Transitions is required for all students who are conditionally-admitted to an undergraduate program at the University of Delaware. All undergraduate programs at the University of Delaware participate in conditional admissions (except for nursing).

Students must meet admissions requirements of the University of Delaware; however, they are not required to submit a TOEFL or IELTS exam score in order to be conditionally admitted. They will be considered for conditional admissions based on the rest of their application (e.g., their academic background, extracurricular activities, etc.).

In order to determine whether you are eligible for Academic Transitions, you must apply for conditional admission to the University of Delaware.

There is no application deadline for any student that wishes to apply for conditional admission to the University of Delaware. This is one of the advantages of the program–it is flexible and convenient!

There are three start dates for Academic Transitions each year. In addition, students at lower levels can begin the ELI on six different start dates during the year.

Students applying to AT will complete just one application, the new UD Online Application.

All undergraduate programs at the University of Delaware participate in conditional admissions (except for nursing).

There is no minimum GPA requirement for students to enter Academic Transitions; however, all students in AT must have been conditionally admitted to the University of Delaware.

This means that all AT students must meet the University’s admissions requirements (except for their English scores).

The University’s Office of Admissions is the only department that determines whether a student is admissible to the University of Delaware’s undergraduate programs.

The University of Delaware’s Office of Admissions is responsible for determining whether a student is admissible to UD’s undergraduate programs. The ELI does not make admissions decisions for degree programs at the University of Delaware.

All AT students must have been conditionally-admitted to the University of Delaware. This means that all AT students must meet the University’s admissions requirements (except for their English scores).

Yes! Any student who meets all admissions requirements for the University of Delaware except for the English requirements is eligible for conditional admission, and therefore can take AT. This includes students who graduate from American high schools.

Minimum English requirements for the University of Delaware are:

☑ TOEFL: minimum score of 79 (Internet-based TOEFL – IBT)

There are three tracks of study in Academic Transitions: business, engineering, and arts and sciences. Students will take ELI and UD courses based on their track of study.

You do not have to select the track of study on the ELI application when you apply for Academic Transitions; instead, the ELI will automatically place you in the correct track of study based on the major that is listed on your UD acceptance letter.

All I-20 Forms for ELI programs are issued by the University of Delaware’s International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS).

Students who show a test score that potentially qualifies them for AT will be issued an I-20 Form with a “program level” that says “Other: Pathway Program.” This follows the U.S. laws about issuing I-20 forms for pathway programs.

A note about placement: Only students who are eligible for Academic Transitions (based on the ELI’s placement process) will receive an I-20 Form for Academic Transitions. Students who do not meet the ELI’s English requirements to enter AT will receive a “Language Training” I-20 Form with an admission to Pre-AT.

Academic Transitions students are typically expected to complete the program in 2 semesters (i.e., 8 months). As a result, the I-20 Form for AT will show a program duration of 8 months.

However, if a student is required to complete an extra 4-month semester of AT (i.e., if a student must complete AT 3), we can extend the I-20 Form for an additional 4 months.

This process is very simple, and students will receive the instructions for this in advance.

There is no deadline to accept the offer, however, we may not be able to guarantee your desired session start date until you complete the ELI Study Confirmation Form.

In addition, UD’s International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS) will not send your Welcome Package and I-20 Form until you complete the Study Confirmation Form and have paid the express mail fee is paid (US $35).

One of the advantages of the ELI is that it is an official part of the University of Delaware!

This means that, with Academic Transitions, you will pay all of your fees directly to the ELI. The tuition paid to ELI will include both ELI and UD academic courses.

This makes the payment process more simple for our students, and it also makes it easier to know who to go to for help with your bill!

Tuition bills are sent to students by email approximately one to two weeks before the beginning of the session. The bill will contain instructions to pay online with a credit card or via a bank wire transfer.

If you have a question about your bill, contact elibilling@udel.edu (remember to include your student ID number and your name written exactly as it appears in your passport).

The tuition of AT3 is much lower than the tuition for AT1 and AT2. This is true even though AT3 includes up to 12 university credits!

The reason that AT3 is so much cheaper is because it is less expensive for the ELI to offer AT3 than it is to offer AT1 and AT2. Students spend more time using ELI resources in AT1 and AT2 than they do in AT3.

In addition, most students will graduate from the ELI after AT2, so fewer students will need (or choose) to continue in AT3. Since the ELI is a non-profit institution, we pass our cost savings to our students!

Do you have a question about the program price? Contact ud-eli@udel.edu or elibilling@udel.edu.