International applications for admission to Boston University next fall have increased by more than 9 percent, an increase similar to numbers for domestic applications, even as the United States wages war in Iraq, BU spokesman Colin Riley said this week.
BU is usually among schools with the most international student enrollments in the nation, Riley said. But even with war in Iraq and other foreign diplomatic problems, and a new United States government system to deal with information about international students, international applications have not decreased for the class of 2007, Riley said.
‘World events do not, by and large, have an effect on the desire of students to seek out a quality university in the [United States] in this case BU,’ Riley said. ‘On the whole, the applicants who apply to top [United States] universities apply to get a good education and generally have the funds to do so.’
Riley said BU’s international student enrollment is usually consistent from year to year as a percentage of the overall university population. He said that trend will continue.
‘Undergraduate international representation at Boston University will continue to be where it currently is at about 7 [to] 9 percent of the undergraduate population,’ Riley said. ‘We aren’t trying to grow, but simply maintain the representation we currently have.’
Riley said he expects the BU’s incoming freshman class to have a makeup similar to past undergraduate classes, generally with students from approximately 100 different countries and no country making up more than 10 percent of BU’s approximately 4,500 international students.
‘No country makes up more than 10 percent of the total undergraduate international pool, so BU isn’t dependent on any one country to maintain the international base we currently boast,’ Riley said.
Foreign students contribute considerable economic benefits to the nation, according to the Institute of International Education’s website, which reported that more than 70 percent of international undergraduate students pay full tuition. Last year, foreign students infused the United States economy with $12 billion, it reported.
But after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, many international students began reporting problems in their attempts to come to the United States to study.
Last fall, students reported having trouble getting visas from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service after colleges sent the students acceptance letters.
Students used to be able to get a student visa within five weeks of applying and being accepted to an American university, Riley said. Last year, it took about three months on average, he said.
Some students had to defer acceptances for a semester last fall and go to Canada, Australian or Europe instead of coming to the United States.
But still, Riley said, many ended up coming to the United States after obtaining their visas, though a little later than expected.
This year, it should not be as much of a problem, Riley said.
‘This year, international students are aware of the problem, and it shouldn’t happen again,’ Riley said. ‘The International Student Scholar Organization assists students in getting their visas so that they can study at BU.’
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