Institutions of higher learning across the country saw applications from international students rise this year, defying predictions by some that Sept. 11 might discourage foreigners from applying to American colleges and universities.
The nationwide trend was reflected at Dartmouth, where nearly 6 percent of all admitted students were from outside the United States, the highest percentage ever. Though final numbers for all colleges and universities are not yet available for the coming year, college administrators said the trend is clear.
"Anecdotal evidence tells us that applications from international students are up," said June Noronha, president of the National Association of International Educators. "For us it's been a welcome surprise."
Noronha, who also serves as associate dean at the college of St. Catherine in Minnesota, credited a "general interest" in the American educational system for the increase, which she said was most pronounced among Asian students.
Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg agreed that despite Sept. 11, the United States "is still a very stable and safe country" and the one that remains the most attractive to foreign students.
Additionally, Furstenberg cited a "more aggressive" approach to international recruitment for attracting a larger pool of applicants.
"The increase this year reflects the efforts of the past few years," he said, noting that there is typically "a bit of a lag" between initial recruitment efforts and an actual change in applicant numbers.
Financial aid may also have been a contributing factor. Furstenberg said the College has not yet achieved a completely need-blind admissions policy for international applicants, but is "very, very close."
Though the College has long maintained a need-blind policy for Canadian students, this year witnessed the adoption of a similar policy for applicants from America's southern neighbor.
Furstenberg explained that the new policy regarding Mexico was intended as a neighborly gesture as well as a response to the fact that "there were students in the United States who were not permanent residents of the country," and who often did not have the means to afford a Dartmouth tuition.
Overall, 63 percent of last year's international students were recipients of financial aid, compared to only 40 percent for the entire Class of 2005.
While Furstenberg said the largest contingent of international students has in past years been Canadian, itself a "very diverse group" reflecting large-scale immigration into the country, there has been recent growth among applicants from east Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Nationwide, Chinese nationals comprise the largest percentage of foreign students, according to Noronha, while Indians, Japanese, Koreans and others bring the Asian total to 55 percent. Fifteen percent hail from Europe, with lesser numbers from other areas.
Although the growth in international applicants has surprised and encouraged administrators, Director of the International Office Stephen Silver cautioned that final numbers are subject to change between now and the beginning of the 2002-2003 academic year.
"In previous years a number of international students withdrew before orientation and the start of classes in September," he said. "It's a very volatile group."
Adding further complexity to the situation is the coming implementation of SEVIS -- the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System -- a program for providing information on international students to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service that is due to launch in Jan. 2003.
Robin Catmur, advisor to international students and scholars, stressed that the new system "is not a new monitoring system," but simply a means for providing basic information on foreign students to the government.
"We've never had a good, reliable method of giving this information to the immigration service," Catmur said, adding that SEVIS "is supposed to facilitate passing of data that institutions have always had to collect on their students."
Catmur said she didn't believe the new system would deter students from abroad from applying to U.S. institutions, but a larger question may be whether the program will even meet its ambitious launch date.
"This coming year will be its trial year," Noronha said. "I just hope the INS has its act together," she said of the organization, which has come under fire recently for numerous organizational mishaps.
According to Furstenberg, there was also a general increase in applications from U.S. citizens living abroad.
"In general, we are bringing more people of an international background than ever before," he said.
