Common Questions about ESL

After you've applied to Delta College and taken the placement assessment, you'll need to enroll in classes.

Come to the ESL Lab in Holt 201 and our staff will help you with your schedule and the necessary paperwork.

After you've applied to Delta, you'll want to take the ESL Guided Self-Placement.

First, complete the Delta College application for admission. You can do so on your computer at home or in the ESL Lab in Holt 201.  

If you need help while completing the application, please contact the ESL Lab. We're here to help!

After you finish the application, please follow the ESL Guided Self-Placement process.

The placement results are usually available within 3-4 days when both assessments are completed.  Please be sure to check your email regularly and answer your phone if the ESL Lab calls to give you your results.  If you have any questions about your results, contact the ESL Lab.

Please click on this link to start the ESL Guided Self-Placement Tool.

Yes, as long as they do not conflict with your ESL program and you meet the prerequisites for the class. 

The first three levels of the ESL program are 11 units. To reach full-time status (12 units), you could enroll in a physical education course for an additional 1 unit. Courses in other disciplines are also available.

We believe you will be most successful if you take all of the classes that are recommended to you.  If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact the ESL Lab.

Our ESL programs are 11 units at the first three levels.

If you feel the classes are too easy or too difficult for you, please speak to your instructor as soon as possible.

A unit is a measure of college credit based on one unit for each lecture hour per week or for every two to three laboratory hours per week.

Delta College offers child care programs on campus. Check with the Child Development Center.

You can pay for your classes with a credit card (VISA or Mastercard), cash, check, or money order.

Residents pay $46.00 per unit.

Non-residents pay $278.00 per unit.

Reminder: Noncredit ESL classes are available for free!

If you have to drop from the program, you must inform the ESL office, and the staff will help you with the required paperwork. If you drop the classes before the refund date, you are eligible for a refund. (This date is different each semester.)

You must notify your instructor immediately.

Payment must be made before classes begin. International and non-resident students can make arrangements for payments at the Delta Connect Center in the DeRicco Building.

Reminder: You can also take noncredit courses for free!

The residence period which a student must meet to be classified as a resident does not begin until the student is present in California and has manifested clear intent to become a California resident.

Intent to establish California residence may be manifested in many ways:

1. Having active membership in service or social club.
2. Being the petitioner for a divorce in California.
3. Establishing and maintaining active California bank accounts.
4. Licensing from California for professional practice.
5. Maintaining permanent military address or home record in California while in the armed forces.
6. Owning of residential property or continuous occupancy of rented or leased property in California.
7. Paying of California state income tax as a resident.
8. Possessing a California driver's license.
9. Possessing a California motor vehicle license plate.
10. Registering to vote and voting in California.
11. Showing California as home address on federal income tax form.

1. People capable of establishing residence in California must be physically present in California for two years or one year if they have supporting evidence of a declaration of intent that is dated one year prior to the residence determination date to be classified as a resident student (see Intent and Residence Determination Date below).
2. Physical presence within the state solely for educational purposes does not constitute establishing California residence regardless of the length of that presence.
    

Residence is that location with which a person is considered to have the most settled and permanent connection; it is also that place where that person intends to remain and, during absences, intends to return. Residence results from the union of physical presence with the intent to remain at that place for an indefinite period of time. 

To qualify as a resident of California, you must show proof of residency for one year.

• Questions about residency can be answered in the ESL Office: Holt 201.
• Reminder: ESL's noncredit courses have no residency requirements!

As set by the District's governing board, the residence determination date is that day immediately preceding the opening day of instruction of the semester or summer intersession, during which the student proposes to attend college.

An person who is in the USA under a non-immigrant classification such as B, C, D, F, G, H, J, or M cannot gain a resident status since the law relating to them provides that they are required to maintain a residence in another country and are only allowed to remain in the USA temporarily. 

• Persons with F, G, and M status may be admitted to the College as full-time students subject to admission to the College's International Student Program.
• Persons whose non-immigrant status are other than F, J, and M should obtain assistance from the Admissions Office. A change in non-immigrant status is the responsibility of the student.

American citizens or permanent residents of the USA who have not resided in California for more that the required period immediately preceding the residence determination date will be subject to the non-resident tuition fee as set forth by the College prior to the start of each academic year.

Reminder: Noncredit ESL courses have no residency requirements and are free!

It is the student's responsibility to demonstrate clearly both physical presence in California and the intent to establish California residence.