Washington University’s international student enrollment has kept up with national trends, as colleges around the country have been devoting large amounts of resources toward finding potential students.
Yet, according to international students who were interviewed, Washington University is not as aggressive in recruiting as other schools are, though other factors influenced the students’ decisions to attend the University.
According to the Institute of International Education (IIE), which released its “Open Doors” report last Monday, 623,805 international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities for the 2007-2008 school year. This figure exceeded the previous record of 586,323 students from the 2002-2003 academic year, and represented a 7 percent increase from the 2006-2007 number.
The University enrolls 1,597 international students, second in the state to the University of Missouri at Columbia. International students comprise about 14 percent of the University’s approximately 11,500 undergraduate and graduate students.
Missouri ranked 17th in host states for international students.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions at the University did not respond to phone calls or e-mail requests for comment.
Sophomore Ian Chui, an international student from Hong Kong, said his decision to attend the University was influenced by the University’s ranking and advice from his high school counselor. Chui also said that many other schools had sent recruiters to the area as well.
“I saw a lot of representatives from other schools. There’s a big market in Hong Kong of students trying to go to [American] schools,” Chui said.
According to Chui, about 80 percent of graduates from his high school went on to attend college in the U.S. Chui’s high school followed the American system of college application, with students taking American standardized tests and courses in English.
The most frustrating part of Chui’s applications to American universities, he said, was obtaining a student visa. Chui added, however, that his counselors were experienced in the process and were able to help.
Renault Young, a sophomore international student from Taiwan, had an experience similar to Chui’s. Young also attended an international high school that used an American curriculum.
“We [had] AP classes, the ACT and SAT,” Young said. “Ninety-five percent of the teachers in my school came from the United States.”
Sixty-one percent of the University’s international students come from Asia. India remains the most common country of origin for international students for the seventh consecutive year, having overtaken China in the 2000-01 academic year. Currently, India accounts for more than 15 percent of foreign students in the U.S. China, South Korea, Japan and Canada complete the top five.
Saudi Arabia was the leading country in the Middle East, ranked ninth for countries of origin for international students across the United States. Although American universities have seen a sharp drop in the number of students coming from the Middle East in recent years due to increased visa restrictions for students, the number of Saudi students at U.S. institutions has more than tripled since 2005, driven in part by scholarships provided to students by the Saudi government.
Business and management are the most common fields of study for international students nationwide, with 20 percent majoring in those fields. Engineering ranked second with 17 percent.
According to the report, study abroad for U.S. students also continued to grow, with nearly a quarter million U.S. students enrolled in study abroad programs. Although most students chose to study abroad in Europe, other destinations such as China, India and some South American countries have become increasingly popular with American students.
The University ranked 26th in terms of the percentage of students participating in study abroad programs, with more than 36 percent of students studying overseas at some point during their undergraduate careers.
Many schools noted that bringing international students to their campuses benefits them by enriching their campus. Such universities benefit financially, with international students bringing an additional $15 billion into the economy each year.
Be the first to comment on this article!