The company will offer full tuition scholarships to those supported by IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF), to help them quickly achieve the English necessary for tertiary study in the USA. This will enable them to continue their academic work “safely and effectively”, it said.

“This language scholarship is a real lifeline to these individuals”

Founded in 2002, the SRF plays a key role in enabling professors, researchers, students and public intellectuals from around the world to continue their work overseas in the face of political oppression or financial hardship. So far it has assisted 469 scholars from 48 countries.

A spokesperson for IIE said the scholarships were welcome news. “The professors and their families have suffered great dislocation, having to leave their homes and extended families,” she said.

“While they are very fortunate to have been helped by SRF to connect with a host university and get a visiting fellowship or temporary position, this generous offer from ELS really provides the language skills they need to teach more effectively, but equally as important, to engage with the community.”

She added that while many faculty members had strong English skills already, some of the spouses were in urgent need of language training, which can impact their, and their children’s lives. “This language scholarship is a real lifeline to these individuals,” she said.

ELS said the scholarships would be available to use at any of its 63 ELS Language Centers across the United States. They cover full tuition for one or more four-week long (30 hours/week) ELS English programmes, in addition to textbooks, materials and application fees.

“The opportunity that ELS is providing to SRF scholars is an important tool that will help them to advance their scholarship and to communicate their academic expertise—as well as their experiences as threatened and persecuted scholars—to a broader audience,” said Jim Miller, executive director of the SRF.