Every applicant wishing to be enrolled at USEK in the undergraduate studies should:

1. Be a holder of the Lebanese Baccalaureate or an equivalent degree

2. Fill an undergraduate studies admission form and attach the following documents:

• A photocopy of the national identity card (a photocopy of the passport for foreigners)
• A photocopy of a recent family civil extract (not older than 3 months and only for Lebanese citizens)
• Two recent passport photos
• A true copy of the academic transcript of the three secondary classes certified by the institution (the first two trimesters for Grade 12 in case the admission form is submitted before the end of the current academic year)
• An attestation of the Lebanese Baccalaureate or an equivalent degree (as soon as it is obtained) certified by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education
• An attestation of university studies already completed, if applicable

The duly completed admission file should be returned to the USEK Orientation and Admission Office within the established deadline dates.

3. Pay the fees related to file opening and admission tests; these fees, non refundable, should be installed beforehand in one of the banks listed in the admission file and on the University’s website.

4. Pass the admission test organized by the University and relevant to the chosen major.

The admission file can be downloaded from the University’s website or directly taken from the Orientation and Admission Office. The applicant can make the choice of 3 majors in his file.

The admission file should be returned, completed and accompanied with all the required documents, to the Orientation and Admission Office within the established deadline dates. This file, as well as the attached documents, even the official ones, remains the property of USEK that undertakes to respect confidentiality.

Uncompleted files will not be taken into consideration. The voluntary transcription of incorrect information and falsified documents lead to the annulment of the admission request.

The admission file has a section entitled “Right to Monitor” allowing the applicant to make it clear to the University whether he authorizes or not one or many people that he specifies, to reveal information contained in his university file.

Undergraduate Admission Application

Objectives
This test, organized by USEK, is a mandatory prerequisite for every registration in undergraduate studies and aims at assessing the linguistic, cultural and scientific levels of the applicant. The obtained results of this test which complement the admission file serve as the main criteria for being admitted at the University. In case the applicant obtained passable results, he will be required to follow remedial courses in subjects wherein the exam revealed weaknesses. In case of exam failure, the applicant can register a second time to the admission test without having to pay the full admission fees, but only lower fees for the management of the admission test.

Calendar
The applicant is required to be informed of the dates and times of the admission test through consulting the USEK website or through directly addressing the Orientation and Admission office. Registration to the admission test is done no later than fifteen days before the date of the exam at the University’s Orientation and Admission Office or at the secretariats of the Regional University Centers.

A test in two parts
The admission test is divided into two parts:

• A language placement test (French and/or English and/or Arabic)
• A specific entrance exam related to the chosen program

The Language Placement Test
USEK, a mainly French speaking institution, offers courses mostly in French. However, being mindful to the current development of society and the job market and being aware of the importance and even the necessity of communicating in English in certain professional circles, USEK has taken the decision of launching several sections in English in different majors. Finally, due to their very content, certain specializations are given in Arabic.

Therefore, the type of the Language Placement Test which the applicant should pass is related to the chosen program: French and/or English and/or Arabic. Specimens of the placement test can be given to the applicants through the Orientation and Admission Office. Applicants applying for the English section of an academic program are not required to undergo the French Language Placement Test. However, in order to be admitted, they should obtain a minimum grade of 60/100 in the English Language Placement Test.

The Specific Entrance Exam Related to the Chosen Program
The applicant is required to pass an entrance exam proposed by the University and whose content varies according to the chosen program (Mathematics, Biology, Drawing, etc.). The annals of the already done tests, for each specialization, can be given to students through the Orientation and Admission Office.

Exemption from the French and English Language Placement Tests
Applicants holders of DELF B2 or TCF B2 will be exempted from the French Language Placement Test and from following the remedial courses which result.
Applicants holders of SAT, TOEFL, Institutional TOEFL, CBT, IBT, FCE or IELTS will be exempted from the English Language Placement Test and the remedial courses which result.
Applicants who followed and passed language courses (French or English) at the USEK Language Center will be exempted from the corresponding placement tests and the remedial courses which result.

Type of the Test according to the Academic Program
File Transfer
Applicants who pursued academic studies in another university accredited by the Lebanese Government, and would like to pursue their studies at USEK, shall fill an application form in which they shall mark the “File Transfer” note.

Transfer file requests should be accompanied with all the required documents for admission at USEK, and with certified copies of the courses syllabi of the potential transferable courses, in addition to the latest academic transcript, noting that the admission is applicable, in such case, based on the secondary school grades and the university transcript. Furthermore, applicants for file transfer may be required to pass a Language Placement Test in French and/or English and/or Arabic according to the chosen major.

Following the evaluation of the file and the study of the applicants’ references by the hosting Faculty/Institute and the Admission Committee, all transferable courses will be validated by the mention T. The assessment of the credits to be likely transferred is based on the criteria defined by the academic regulations of the University.

Admission on File
Applicants eligible to be admitted on file are students in their final year of high school. Admission on file is done once a year. For the 2010 – 2011 academic year, the period of the admission on file is from February 1 till March 12, 2010. Results will be published on March 29, 2010.
The admission Committee carefully studies each file, adopting flexible criteria with each particular case.

Each file contains:

• An admission file duly filled out
• Grades transcript of the three secondary classes signed and stamped by the Head of the school.

In case of linguistic deficiency, according to the teaching language of the chosen major, the file is rejected. No recourse is possible.
Applicants admitted on file with excellent school results throughout the three secondary classes are eligible of obtaining a scholarship and this according to the criteria defined by the regulations of granting excellence and merit scholarships.
Applicants of Medicine cannot submit an Admission on File request. They should pass the entrance exam held on July 12 and 13, 2010.

Admission on Title
Applicants who obtained at least a high distinction in the Lebanese Baccalaureate or its equivalent automatically benefit from an Admission on Title, as well as an excellence scholarship. Maintaining the scholarship depends on the GPA that the applicants constantly maintain throughout their studies and on criteria defined by the regulations of granting excellence and merit scholarships.

Exemption from Admission Tests
All applicants holders of the Lebanese Baccalaureate (or an equivalent degree acknowledged by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education) dating no more than 2 years and having a GPA above or equal to 14/20 at the official exam may be exempted from the admission test following the special authorization of the Admission Committee based on:

• The grades of the applicant during the three secondary years of study signed and stamped by the Head of the school
• The official grades of the Lebanese Baccalaureate or its equivalent

If correlation cannot be established between the official exam grades of the applicant, his grades at high school and the assessment given by the school, the Committee will issue an unfavorable notice.
In case of linguistic deficiency, according to the teaching language of the chosen program, the file is rejected.

Admission
The opening of an admission file allows the applicant to do a preregistration at the University, waiting for the results of the Lebanese Baccalaureate (or its equivalent) and the admission test.
The application file and the results of the admission test are assessed in parallel by the University’s Admission Committee which judges the admissibility of the applicant.Afterwards, the notice of this committee is published on the USEK website and displayed at the Orientation and Admission Office of the University.
The admitted applicant should confirm his choice of major by proceeding to the Orientation and Admission Office or by connecting to the University’s website. Having done this procedure, the student can hence register his courses after installing his first payment of tuition fees.

Admission Validity
The admission is valid for the ongoing academic year. The applicant who does not register for one of the two semesters during the year he is accepted, loses his right of admission; he then shall submit a new application form to be studied within the available places for the new year.
No admission is authorized for the summer session, noting that the first registration should be done during the Fall or the Spring semester.

Calendar and Modalities
Course registration is done at the beginning of every semester or the summer session at the concerned Faculty/Institute according to a pre-established calendar. In order to consult this calendar, students are required to directly proceed to the secretariat of the concerned Faculty/Institute.

Students cannot register before the period defined for this purpose. For those who could not register within the established deadlines, it will be possible for them to undergo late registration during the Add/Drop period.

It should be noted that a student cannot register in the summer session if he was not registered during the previous Fall or Spring Semesters.

Administrative Documents
The administrative forms mentioned in the following pages can be downloaded from the USEK website and/or from the University’s intranet (MyUSEK) and/or available at the Registrar Office.

When the student submits a form to an administrative service, the latter issues a receipt mentioning the necessary time needed to deal with the form. The student is therefore required to keep both documents justifying the submission of the form till he obtains a reply.

Procedure
1. The admitted applicant confirms his enrollment at the University through the installment of the first payment of tuition fees at one of the banks listed in the admission file and on the University’s website.

• The first installment of tuition fees includes:
• The registration fees: 150 USD (non refundable – not applicable for the Summer Session)
• The National Social Security Fund fees: 100 USD annually (for students already affiliated to the NSSF or an equivalent fund, they will be required to submit an exemption form at the NSSF Delegate Office in order to remove the 100 USD paid in advance during the registration from the account; this form, which can be downloaded from MyUSEK, the University’s intranet and from the USEK website should be submitted before the end of the fourth week of classes and this according to the academic calendar
• The first term of tuition fees: the amount of this first term, fixed by the University, is similar to all students belonging to the same program, regardless the number of credits taken by the applicant and even if he benefits from a financial aid (in this case, financial adjustments will be done after the registration period). If the amount fixed by the University exceeds the tuition fees related to the student’s semester (for example in case of a senior student), the student should then proceed to the secretariat of the concerned Faculty/Institute, fill out the form related to this purpose and have it signed by the Dean/Director or the Academic Secretary of the concerned Faculty/Institute, before submitting it to the Social Service Office. He can then set the first payment starting the next day.

2. Once the first payment of tuition fees is installed, the student registers his courses during the period defined by the academic calendar (the student should wait 24 hours at least after installing the payment at the bank before being able to register his courses). The payment should therefore be installed 48 hours before the end of the registration period. Otherwise, the student should undergo a late registration.

Steps to follow for course registration:

• Consult in advance the timing of courses on the USEK website or on the bulletin boards and choose courses according to the chosen major.
• Fill out a temporary registration form indicating the chosen courses. This form is available at the registration office of the concerned Faculty/Institute, at the Registrar Office and on the USEK intranet. It is worth mentioning that, except with special derogation for senior students issued by the Chairperson and approved by the Dean/Director, students should register 12 credits at least. Every registration to an inferior number of credits will be automatically rejected by the computer system.
• Check with the academic advisor who will validate the chosen courses and register them on the computer system.

At the end of the registration procedure, the student receives a printed document signed by the academic advisor and mentioning the registration details (courses, credits, timing and locations). The student should keep this document and present it in case of eventual registration changes during the Add/Drop period. The document should be kept till the end of the semester.

Access to Banner self- service and USEK E-mail Address
All students enrolled at USEK automatically benefit from an access to the University’s computer and management system, banner self-service, (this access allows students to consult their academic transcripts, course catalogue, course offering as well as the account related to their tuition fees) and from an USEK e-mail address ( FName.InitialFatherName.LName@net.usek.edu.lb i.e. Elie Pierre Khoury: elie.p.khoury@net.usek.edu.lb ), which are the privileged means of communication and information among the University’s administration, faculty members and students.

These identifiers are communicated to students around three weeks following the registration period, through the “Student’s Wallet”.

Access to both accounts is made available through connecting to the University’s intranet MyUSEK or through the USEK website. In case of problems or for further information, students can address the IT Service Desk.