Members of the BGSU World Student Association greet visitors to the Bowen-Thompson Student Union with displays from their respective countries.

Growing international-student enrollment at BGSU bucks
national numbers

The number of international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities fell last year for the first time since 1971, the Institute of International Education reported last month.

But at the same time it dropped by 2.4 percent nationwide, foreign-student enrollment rose at BGSU—and continued to climb this fall.

With 610 students from 90 foreign countries on campus this semester, BGSU has seen a 3.5 percent increase in enrollment of such students from a year ago and a 7.4 percent jump since fall 2001.

BGSU’s response to a primary factor in the national downturn has aided the University’s international-student numbers, according to Jeff Grilliot, director of the Center for International Programs.

Foremost among the reasons for the declining number of international students nationwide, Grilliot said, was a slowdown in the process for issuing student visas after an electronic tracking system was created following Sept. 11, 2001.

Immigration documents are now issued through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which colleges and universities were required to implement by the end of July 2003.

Information about current and admitted international students, including the expected length of their stay in the United States, is part of a database compared with names on intelligence or law enforcement lists.

“The new system, during its implementation phase, had some glitches that created a slowdown in visa issuance,” Grilliot explained. “It really took awhile to get this thing implemented correctly.”

BGSU, however, was in the first 5 percent of institutions to implement SEVIS successfully, he said, “and because we responded very quickly and had our system up and running very early, we didn’t experience the slowdowns that some of the other universities did.”

The University got its offers to desired foreign students more quickly, along with their required immigration papers, giving the students more time to obtain visas, Grilliot added.

“We kept ahead of the curve in visa issuances, and it helped us with our numbers,” he said, noting that while a backlog of cases still has some universities running behind, he thinks normalcy should be restored by next fall.

Grilliot also cited other, related reasons that have contributed to the situation nationally. Prospective students from certain countries have been subject to 30-day background checks, and by the time they were cleared, they missed deadlines and couldn’t attend U.S. universities. Some parents have been deterred by a perception that the country isn’t safe due to the threat of terrorism. And because of the increasing cost of higher education in America, lower-cost competition—mainly in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada—has become more popular.

But tuition is rising in those countries as well, erasing their cost advantage, said Grilliot, who found more reasons for optimism on a recent three-week recruiting trip to Southeast Asia.

Traveling with representatives from about 30 other U.S. institutions, he heard from consular officials that the visa issuance rate for students from the countries he visited had been down to roughly 60 percent but has bounced back to 98 percent. The trip included stops in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

While a perception of visa hassles persists, “a U.S. education is still recognized as the best in the world” and is luring more Southeast Asian students back, he said, pointing out that improving regional economies are helping families’ ability to send their children abroad.

He had not made a similar trip in seven years, but this one “was right on time,” noted Grilliot, who returned with nearly 1,000 completed inquiry cards about Bowling Green.

It was also in keeping with BGSU’s Academic Plan, which lists increasing recruitment of international students among the possible approaches to “Understanding Cultures and Nations”—one of the plan’s five themes, or strategies for achieving the University’s vision and mission.

“You want to attract the best and brightest people in the world to your country,” he said. “What we’re looking for are highly academically qualified, fee-paying international students.”

The majority at BGSU, as well as nationwide, have come from India and China. Roughly 90 students from each country are on campus this fall. Next on the list is Canada, which is represented by about 40 students at BGSU now.

While the number of degree-seeking, foreign graduate students at the University has remained at just over 400, the number of like undergraduates rebounded to 153 this fall after having fallen to 97 in 2003. The remaining international students are considered guests—not seeking a degree but still fully enrolled, if only for a semester-length or yearlong cultural experience.