Increasing difficulty receiving visas. Long lines and bad treatment at customs. Suspicious looks. Impending insecurity about U.S. wartime policies.
These are just a few problems some international students at Boston University said they face, and are possible reasons there has not been an increase in growth in the number of international students studying at American universities in the last academic year.
According to the annual Open Doors 2003 study on foreign students studying in the United States, 586,323 students studied at American universities, just a 0.6 percent increase over the previous year.
Although any increase seems positive, this contrasts with a previous steady 7 percent growth rate in international student enrollment.
Administrators from several Boston-area schools said the results of the Open Door study are in line with their experiences. Many, including Boston University, the University of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reported that their foreign enrollment numbers have remained steady this year instead of increasing.
‘We have not seen a decline in recent years,’ said Frank Hugas of the International Students department at UMass. The numbers ‘have remained fairly steady. Frankly it surprised us, but nonetheless they have stayed the same,’ he said.
Despite the lack of an increase, BU spokesman Colin Riley did not point to the world’s current state of affairs as the sole explanation.
‘Any time there’s a growing trend in anything there will be an accompanying fluctuating rate,’ Riley said. ‘Our applications for foreign students have gone up 11 percent, which is above the increase in regular admissions. BU has a long history of global representation. Our numbers and enrollments have also stayed steady. And we expect it to remain so.’
Safety concerns did not seem to be a factor influencing many BU international students who chose to come to America for school. Students seemed more concerned about getting a good education than about threats of terrorism.
‘I wanted to come to America no matter what,’ said School of Management freshman Katie Tam, who is from New Zealand. ‘I didn’t really even think about it. I guess it depends on the individual, but I didn’t even apply to a school in New Zealand. America has the best education in the world.’
Fellow freshman and Puerto Rico-native Sonja Savona echoed Tam’s comments, adding that although her family was worried, she knew she wanted to come to school in America.
‘My family was concerned,’ Savona said. ‘They were like, ‘Why go to school in a new country when you can go here?’ But I needed change, and the U.S. has the best. I saw it as, if I got accepted to a school in the U.S., I’m going to go.’
Both did however point to bad experiences with customs and the way they are treated occasionally by Americans as reasons some other international students may choose to stay home.
‘It’s always a worry because people treat you different for not being an American,’ Savona said. ‘You get insulted a lot in customs and whatnot. We had nothing to do with terrorism, but often we get treated as if we are the terrorists.’
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