Speaking fluent English isn’t necessary for college admission.

According to international-admission counselors, overseas recruiters and English-language instructors, more and more American colleges are granting conditional admission to foreign students even though their English skills might not meet entrance standards.

With a provisional offer in hand, the students then polish their English at the college or at an approved language school before taking an English-proficiency exam. Some colleges, like Plymouth State, have embraced conditional admission as a way to expand foreign-student numbers.

"America is the best country is the world for studying," said Rasheed Alanazi, a 21-year-old student from Saudi Arabian who was granted admission to Plymouth State University with the stipulation that he raise his language proficiency before starting classes. "The best universities are here."

Although no firm statistics exist to support the growing trend, institutions with longstanding provisional-acceptance programs say interest is increasing sharply. At Iowa State University, which has offered conditional admission for three decades, intensive-English enrollments have tripled in recent years, says Patricia J. Parker, assistant director of admissions.

Much of the demand is being driven by the record number of Chinese undergraduates pouring into American colleges. Some of these students need extra English instruction, while others simply do not have time to sit for the English test as well as their high-school exit exam and China's rigorous national university-entrance exam.

"It's the wave of the future," says Robert (Bert) Barry, director of international services at Saint Louis University, which expects to enroll as many as 200 conditionally admitted students in its intensive-English program this fall.

"The message we give is," Barry said, "if students are likely to succeed, we don't want English to be a barrier."

Despite drastic cuts to their budgets, most states managed to protect cuts the grant aid they give state residents to attend college.

Over the last several months, headlines in major newspapers have touted that  “Fewer Low-Income Students Going to College.” But that might be a bit of mis-information courtesy of a blog by a major newspaper.

Over the summer, Penn State’s admissions office became just one of many schools to push social networking tools to communicate with campus visitors.

According to a recent survey, applying for federal Pell Grants is more than a pain, it’s prohibitive.

Demographics and recruitment methodologies are concerned with connecting students with the right educational opportunities.  But colleges must still be able to deliver a “valuable product” in the form of a quality education at a reasonable price.  The third installment in our white paper series will take a broader look at the economics of higher education.

According to a recent study of admissions at elite colleges by two Princeton sociologists, members of high school ROTC, 4-H Clubs or Future Farmers of America are less likely to be admitted to elite colleges.