(Marietta, GA January 2, 2001) -- Southern Polytechnic State University announces an agreement to host an ELS LanguageCenters program on its Marietta campus beginning in January. This program will help expand the support system for international students in the metropolitan Atlanta area for whom English is a second language.

"We are pleased to welcome ELS to our campus," says SPSU President Lisa A. Rossbacher. "Southern Polytechnic has a long-standing commitment to preparing students for living and working successfully in an increasingly global society. The educational experience for our students will be strengthened by the additional multi-cultural dimension added by international students in the ELS program." Southern Polytechnic State University has the 10^th highest percentage of international students for all schools of its type in the U.S.

ELS Language Centers is headquartered in Princeton, NJ and has 31 centers throughout the United States and 80 world-wide. More than 600 American colleges and universities recognize the ELS Language Centers program completion certificate as representing adequate language proficiency for admission to degree study programs. The Center in Atlanta was established in 1975.

According to Mark W. Harris, president and CEO of ELS Language Centers, "A move to the Southern Polytechnic campus provides our students with the kind of resources in modern facilities and academic programs that were not previously available to them locally. We expect the new center to appeal to prospective international students and our ELS student enrollment to increase with this move."

Southern Polytechnic State University is a member of the University System of Georgia offering bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in some of the nation’s fastest growing fields. Many of these fields are particularly popular with international students, including computer science, architecture and the engineering technologies.