Twenty Taiwanese students who came to Cal State Long Beach in an attempt to get their master's degrees are faced with a dilemma - the Written Proficiency Exam, which is required by all CSULB students in order to graduate.

The students are required to complete 36 units in eleven months and also must pass the WPE in order to graduate with a master's degree from CSULB.

Joseph Taso, a representative for Carpry, a student exchange agency in Taiwan, said the WPE will be a likely problem for the students.

If the students do not pass the WPE, they will not graduate with a master's degree. Taso said this scares the students because of the time and money the students have invested.

"In order for the students to pass the WPE, their English skills have to be as sophisticated as a local person," Taso said. "I don't think the students have the ability within one year to pass the WPE."

The students came to the United State because they wish to teach at college level. A law in Taiwan requires that all students who wish to teach at a university get a master's degree. Yet only two universities in the country offer master's degree programs.

A survey conducted by Carpry, found that CSULB is the No. 1 choice by Taiwanese students to attain a master's degree in kinesiology.

The three other schools involved in the Taiwan program are: Arkansas State, University of New Orleans and Baker College in Michigan. Other CSU system schools are Cal State Los Angeles, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Fullerton.

Taso said that CSU Fullerton offers a research methods class that can replace the WPE. Other than CSULB, no university has had this requirement of the Taiwan students.

Taso said that he found out about the WPE at the last minute.

This was after the students had already registered and paid tuition to attend school at CSULB.

He said that the Taiwan program fees are much higher than what a regular foreign students.

Foreign students pay $923 for tuition and $246 for each unit.

The Taiwan students also pay the Carpry agency fees that include finding a representative, accommodations at the Anaheim motel that they stay in, transportation to and from school and food expenses.

If the WPE is not replaced, Taso said, that it will be hard to find students to come to CSULB in the future.

Despite CSULB's good reputation, the test will be a deterrent, he said.

The students now attend a three-month English class at the American Language Institute.

After this, they will take kinesiology classes.

Taso spends his weekends giving additional tutoring in English to the students.

Dr. Michael Lacourse, graduate coordinator for the kinesiology department said that the WPE is required by all students on campus.

He said that the requirements are the same for both foreign and regular students.

The students will have more than one opportunity to take the test, just as regular students do each semester.

The WPE is offered five times a year.

The Taiwanese students will only have two chances next semester to take the test due to the allotted eleven-month leave of absence granted by the Taiwan government.

Taso says that the agency is mainly concerned with the students knowledge background and their professional practice as opposed to just speaking English.