“House of tutors”, ESL and Tuition school in Austin, Texas, USA

The school has 3 semesters which starts on January, May, and August. We prepare students for each semester and they can come to the US not more than 30 days before class starts.

All inclusive cost for a semester (3 1/2 month) = 148,750Thb / semester for tuition + application and arrival fees “Embassy (visa) & insurance”

Information for study in House of tutors:

Student pays $4,240 per semester (about 3.5 months). 

At the moment, we are working with House of tutors which is the first gate for our students in Thailand to get the "US Student Visa". Check at www.houseoftutors.edu.  This is the school which will issue I-20 to each student from Thailand within 1 week (if required documents are submitted in a timely manner).

Student can study there as long as they want. When they've finished the qualified level, they can go to Austin Community college for 2 years (Visa extended), then they can go to the university (Bachelor’s degree) for less years and in this case, students can save money and time because the cost of tuitions in College is cheaper than in the University and they can also transfer some subjects to the university which means they don't have to study the same subjects twice.

We also have a contract with St. Edwards' University that any foreign students who finish from Austin Community College (ACC) can go through St. Edwards' directly without TOFEL (if their English is sufficient);

Personal cost: (What students have to pay by themselves)

*Embassy fee ($131 paid at US Embassy by each student);

*SEVIS fee ($200 paid through https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/);

*Housing (approximately $300-350 per month / person for twin bed, 2 students per bedroom) and approximately $750-900 per month / person for a single student life:  http://www.austindorms.com/

If students prefer to stay in the same area, we can find 2-3 bedroom in one apartment/house, so 4-6 students can share the cost of the House;

*Books and supplies, (approximately $100 per semester);

*Insurance, (Age of 18-25 pay $35, age of 25-35 pay $70 paid when they arrive at House of tutors);

*Round-trip airfare (approximately 1000$);

*Local transportation, ($10 per month for student);

*Meals (approximately $5-8 a meal at restaurant, cooking at home will cost cheaper);

*Miscellaneous personal expenses (whatever they want to buy for their own good)

Student ID included;

Here are some schools website which are working with house of tutors:

http://www.houseoftutors.com/

http://www.austincc.edu/

http://www.stedwards.edu/

Here are the websites of dormitories and apartments in Austin:

http://www.austindorms.com/

http://www.rent.com/rentals/texas/austin-and-vicinity/austin/downtown/586815/?emailclass_id=97&email_id=921485826&click=property_view

http://www.rent.com/rentals/texas/austin-and-vicinity/austin/south-austin/463982/?emailclass_id=97&email_id=921485826&click=property_view

http://www.rent.com/rentals/texas/austin-and-vicinity/austin/northwest-austin/11735/?emailclass_id=97&email_id=921485826&click=property_view

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House of Tutors / Intensive American English Institute

2400 Pearl St., Austin, TX  78705

www.us-esl.com

History

House of Tutors has been providing tutoring and other educational services in Austin since 1980.  The Intensive American English Institute (IAEI) was begun in 1993. Today we have a 5-level ESL program serving about 60 students. We regularly contract for ESL services to branches of the University of Texas at Austin, presently serving the graduate school of business and the IC² technology transfer institute. We have regular classes for executives at Samsung and in the past designed and implemented the ESL program for Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. We are accredited by ACCET and authorized by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue I-20s.

ESL program

Our 5-level ESL core program has classes for reading, writing, grammar, usage and fluency, and listening and speaking. We offer electives in pronunciation, TOEFL preparation, and ESL/US government. Our top level is designed to teach college-level skills in writing, research, note-taking, and reading comprehension. The newest elective course immerses students in a US college-style class in political science, where they experience the reading, research, and testing demands of an authentic college-level course. The course prepares students to take the CLEP exam in US government, is accepted at almost 3,000 US colleges and universities. 

Our “College Key” 2+2 program guarantees that qualified students who graduate from our school will be admitted to a US college. Students can attend one of several local community colleges for 2 years, then transfer to one of over fifty traditional college or university institutions for 2 additional years to finish their bachelor’s degree.

Twice each term we administer the paper-based TOEFL at no charge to our students. Students are not required to take the TOEFL, but it is popular.

We have open enrollment, so students can begin classes at anytime.

Austin Community College, LeTourneau University, Sul Ross State University and  Tennessee Technological University waive TOEFL score requirements for students completing our language training program.

Additional Services

House of Tutors offers tutoring services in multiple subjects. There are also instructors on staff who specialize in preparing students for TOEFL tests, as well as other college entrance preparation courses like GRE, GMAT, and LSAT. 

Testing, Placement, and Promotion

We use the Michigan English Placement Test, a writing sample and a structured oral interview to place new students in our program.

Students are tested in each of their classes every 5^th week.  Their test grades and daily work together are used to calculate their grades. These grades are the basis for promotion from level to level.

Exit Portfolio

Graduating students submit a portfolio containing 4-5 essays, a formal research paper following MLA or APA guidelines, a video recorded oral presentation, and a timed written response to a passage drawn from a freshman college text, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or The Economist. The portfolio is evaluated by a committee including at least two members of the faculty and the Academic Director to determine whether the student is capable of performing at the level of language proficiency required by their chosen partner school.

ESL Program Personnel

Academic Director:  Lee McMullin has 20 years’ experience in teaching and education administration, including 14 years in adult ESL. He has an MA in history, an MA in foreign language education, and is working on a PhD at Texas State University in adult, community, and professional education. He has held a variety of administrative positions in Thailand, China and the US.

Student Services Director: Polly Elbertse has her BA from Wake Forest, has studied in Spain and is a certified ESL instructor with teaching experience in Mexico and the US. She has experience working in student services for schools in the Washington, D.C. area and in Texas.

Faculty:

All faculties are required to have a minimum of a 4-year degree and 2 years’ ESL teaching experience when hired. In nearly every case instructors also have ESL certification, graduate degrees, or both.

Partner Schools

House of Tutors / Intensive American English Institute is actively pursuing agreements with colleges and universities to accept graduates of our Intensive English program. 

These partner schools will waive the TOEFL requirement for graduates of our school:

·         Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas < www.sulross.edu >

·         Austin Community College, Austin, Texas < www.austincc.edu >

·         LeTourneau University, Longview, Texas  < www.letu.edu >

·         Tennessee Technological University, Cookville, Tennessee  < www.tntech.edu >

·         Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut  < www.easternct.edu >

Negotiations with these schools to waive the TOEFL requirement for graduates of our school are in process:

·         Benedictine College, Atchison, KS < www.benedictine.edu >

·         Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois  < www.ben.edu >

·         Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts  < www.bu.edu >

·         DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana < www.depauw.edu >

·         St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas < www.stmarytx.edu >

·         Carroll College, Waukesha, Wisconsin < www.cc.edu >

These schools will accept our students provisionally:

·       St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas  < www.stedwards.edu >

·       Concordia University, Austin, Texas  < www.concordia.edu >

·         Texas State University will accept students on the basis of our institutional TOEFL if supported by the student’s graduating portfolio. < www.txstate.edu >

·         Southern Methodist University of Dallas, Texas, < www.smu.edu > is also in the process of completing documents to confirm provisional admissions for our students.