ETS Announces the Winners of the Academic Scholarship Program in China

Contact:

• Christine Betaneli
  609-683-2676
  mediacontacts@ets.org
• Becky Powell
  609-683-2092
  mediacontacts@ets.org

Beijing, China (May 13, 2010) —

At a press conference this afternoon in Beijing, Educational Testing Service (ETS) Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Walt MacDonald announced the winners of the ETS Scholarship Program. Established last November in China, the ETS Scholarship Program recognizes academic excellence by Chinese test takers of the TOEFL® and the TOEIC® tests.

ETS, the creator of both the TOEFL and TOEIC tests, honored 80 high-performing Chinese students with awards totaling approximately US$100,000 for academic study in 2010. Forty US$1,500 (RMB 10,000) TOEFL Scholarships have been awarded to the universities of 20 undergraduate and 20 graduate students. In addition, 40 TOEIC Scholarships of RMB 8,000 were awarded today to Chinese students currently seeking Bachelor's degrees at universities in China.

"The scholarship program stems from our ongoing mission to promote equity and excellence in education and is a special opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to helping advance English language learning in China," said MacDonald. "Having the ability to speak English assists Chinese students in achieving their personal goals, as well as providing a strong foundation for meeting success in the global market."

The ETS Scholarship winners are selected using various criteria that allow ETS to identify exemplary Chinese students. Criteria for winning the TOEFL Scholarship included a valid TOEFL score, strong academic record, thoughtful essay, clear and concise responses to free-response questions, and extracurricular activities. Criteria for winning the TOEIC Scholarship included a valid TOEIC score, strong academic record, letter of recommendation, extracurricular activities, and a strong in-person interview with the TOEIC Scholarship Committee.

The ETS Scholarship and Recognition Programs (SRP) group, which annually administers millions of dollars in new and renewable awards in the United States and abroad, has been involved in the coordination of the ETS Scholarship Program in China. In addition to program consultation, SRP developed application materials and guidelines for the review of the applications.

Celebrating 30 years of service to organizations around the globe, the TOEIC test is the global standard for measuring workplace English-communication skills for companies, institutions and government agencies worldwide. The TOEIC test is currently used in more than 90 countries by more than 9,000 organizations worldwide.

For more than 40 years, the TOEFL test has been the most widely used English-language assessment worldwide. The TOEFL test scores are currently accepted by more than 7,300 educational institutions in more than 130 countries. A complete listing of institutions accepting TOEFL scores is available in the TOEFL Destinations directory.

About ETS

At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® test and The Praxis Series™ assessments — in more than 180 countries worldwide.