The University of California, Berkeley Extension is ending its longstanding English Language Program for foreign students in May, saying the program no longer fits the school's mission.

Dean James Sherwood said the extension -- after a six-month strategic planning process -- has reevaluated programs and services in order to offer those that best complement UC Berkeley.

The English program, he said, no longer meets the need it filled when it started in 1973, when it was one of the first such programs of its kind in the country.

Sherwood said English programs are "ubiquitous" at institutions throughout the Bay Area and the nation, diminishing the need for Berkeley Extension's program. Plus, he said, foreign students are increasingly pursuing English-language training in other countries, including the U.K., Australia and Canada.

"This is a good program," Sherwood said. "It's a program that served its purpose and met a need over its 30-year history, but it has simply used up its useful life."

Last year, 2,733 students from 54 countries went through the English program at the extension, which is the financially self-supporting, continuing education branch of UC Berkeley.

The program's last session will be an eight-week program that begins March 10.

Sherwood said anywhere from 35 to 40 staff members will be affected by the change. Some will be reassigned, but 26 faculty members in the program have received layoff notices, he said.

The extension's new focus will be on programs that com-plement the main campus, Sherwood said, such as engineering programs, liberal arts and public health. He said "probably 15 percent" of the extension programs will end or be recrafted to meet the new mission, but he declined Thursday to offer specifics on which programs would be affected.

Last year, the extension offered 2,500 courses.