FOCUS: INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Record numbers of college students studying abroad
Learning at a global level is 2-way street, with record traffic in both directions
If there’s any doubt the world is getting smaller, look what’s happening on college campuses.
Not only are more Americans studying abroad than ever before, but there are record numbers of foreign students enrolled at U. S. institutions.
The University at Buffalo has more than 4,300 foreign students — the 12th-largest international enrollment among American colleges.
“I feel pretty comfortable here,” said Jay Zhu, a UB student from China. “People never assume you are from a different country. They just equally treat you as a person, as a human being.”
Sarah Keim spent last fall in London.
“I’m kind of a homebody,” said Keim, a UB senior from Pittsford, “so it was the first time I really stepped outside the box.”
Students are coming and going for many reasons, educators say.
Colleges encourage students to spend time overseas, as the job market becomes more international. Families have had the means to send them.
At the same time, a shortage of higher education in some parts of the world has a growing middle class turning to other countries, notably the United States, which is more than happy to take in bright, young scholars.
“The great universities in America have reached out to international students for a long time,” said Allan E. Goodman, president of the Institute of International Education, “but what we’re learning is that education is still in really short supply globally.”
The number of international students studying in the United States rose last year to an all-time high of 623,805, according to a recent report by the institute.
The largest numbers come from India, China, South Korea, Japan and Canada to study business, engineering and the sciences, the most popular programs for foreign students.
Zhu came to UB — the first American university to have an exchange agreement with China — because of its reputation in his country.
He enjoys UB’s international flavor and the academic flexibility he didn’t have in China.
“When I was starting computer science, the faculty was very warm and kind,” said Zhu, a graduate student. “They never put you off because you can’t speak perfect English.”
Back to pre-9/11 levels
The federal government has played a big role in the rising numbers, Goodman said.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the number of students allowed into the country slowed, giving the impression that the United States didn’t want foreigners.
But outreach to key international markets and attempts to smooth the student visa process made a difference for schools, which are counting on overseas students, Goodman said.
Some universities, including UB, recruit quality students from abroad to boost enrollment, particularly in programs such as science and engineering that attract fewer Americans.
It also doesn’t hurt that foreign students pay the higher out-of-state tuition at public schools.
“This is the first year where we had some real growth and are back to where we were pre-9/11,” said Stephen C. Dunnett, UB’s vice provost for international education.
Smaller schools have taken in more foreign students, too.
D’Youville College has more than 1,000 international students, mostly Canadians.
Fredonia State College hosts about 100 foreign students.
“I’m more interested in recruiting international students so we can add to the complexity of the student base and bring alternative perspectives to the classroom,” said Mary Sasso, director of international education at Fredonia State.
Likewise, schools big and small are sending more of their students overseas, even if it’s only for a couple of weeks.
The number of U. S. students studying abroad in 2006-07 rose to nearly 242,000 — a 150 percent increase from a decade ago, according to the institute.
Students today seem more curious about the rest of the world, and families — at least until recently — have enjoyed good economic times that allow them to afford to provide the experience abroad, Sasso said.
Colleges recommend the opportunity, because the knowledge of other cultures is needed now in ways that it wasn’t for previous generations, Dunnett said.
“We’re concerned that we’re not preparing our graduates to compete in what’s now really a global work force,” Dunnett said.
UB, the report shows, had 414 students in programs abroad, while Fredonia had 256; Geneseo State College, 211; St. Bonaventure University, 164; Buffalo State College, 139; and Canisius College, 116.
“It has grown as the options have expanded,” said Alice F. Sayegh, director of International Studies at St. Bonaventure. “We’re in places where we were not five years ago.”
A small percentage
Argentina, South Africa, Ecuador and India are gaining in popularity as student destinations, the report shows, but the favorites are still Italy, Spain, France, China and — most desirable of all — Britain.
Keim studied business in London and got to check out other parts of Europe.
“I got to travel a lot,” Keim said. “I was in six different countries in three months.”
Still, the number of Americans studying abroad is a very small percentage.
Colleges are trying to do more — raise scholarship money, provide student exchanges, offer less expensive locations — to make studying abroad possible for more students. They also are anxiously waiting to see how the recent downward spiral in the world economy affects students going in both directions.
“We’ll see what happens,” Sasso said, “now that money is tighter.”
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