Center for Global Engagement

The Center for Global Engagement (CGE) provides international students and professional groups unparalleled access to pursue rigorous academic education, cutting-edge professional development, and enriching cultural exploration at an American university. CGE provides admission, advising, and support services to international students in non-degree programs, including the American Language Institute, credit-bearing academic certificate programs, and short-term non-degree academic and custom training programs in collaboration with colleges and departments across the campus. 

The American Language Institute (ALI) is SF State's English program for non-matriculated international students, founded in 1961. The ALI offers an intensive English for academic preparation program designed primarily for international students preparing to enter SF State or another American college or university. The EAP provides a full-time intensive curriculum focused on English as a Second Language that gives students both the language and academic skills necessary for success in higher education in the United States. There are five levels of instruction ranging from low intermediate to advanced. Students are expected to regularly attend classes and maintain good academic standing to continue in the program. All applicants must be graduates of a recognized high school or secondary school. 

In addition to administering language, experiential, academic, and professional programs, CGE provides ALI students with academic advising and a variety of services, including comprehensive orientation programming, cultural adjustment support, immigration advising, and a regular program of social and cultural activities. Students attending the ALI who wish to attend undergraduate programs at SF State may meet the University's English proficiency requirement through the successful completion of particular levels of the ALI. They are also permitted to apply after the regular application deadline.

The ALI also serves as a training institute for select graduate students in the SF State English Department's Master of Arts in English program: Concentration in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Following an intense semester of training, those graduate students become instructors in the ALI under the supervision of the full-time, permanent ALI staff. ALI staff and instructors collaborate with M.A. TESOL faculty and graduate students on students’ project work for M.A. some TESOL courses.

The CGE office is located on the main SF State campus.

For further information about CGE programs, please contact the Center for Global Engagement.

The office is located in HUM 101
Phone (415) 338-1438
Email: celglobal@sfsu.edu
Website: https://cel.sfsu.edu/global