Saudi Mission Bans Its Students From Troubled Program at Southern Utah U.

Southern Utah University officials are defending an unorthodox “fast track” policy that allows international students to enroll as undergraduates before they complete the institution’s English-as-a-second-language program or pass a test demonstrating proficiency in the English language, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. But the ESL program, which the university took over from a private company last year, keeps running into problems. The university is investigating allegations lodged by an instructor who quit last month that it tolerates plagiarism by students in the program, and now the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission has barred Saudi students from entering the program, citing both student complaints and an “oversaturation” with Saudi students, who make up 158 of the program’s 182 students. A university spokesman said Southern Utah takes the plagiarism allegations seriously and hopes to correct any deficiencies in the program before it moves to accreditation.