University Business - June 2010 - (Page 70)

The Quest for Internationals Seven considerations in the recruitment of international students and what institutional leaders can do to work through them By Howard and Matthew Greene 70 | June 2010 universitybusiness.com Craig Bailey/northeastern n 2006, NortheasterN UNiversity enrolled students from 42 countries, representing 4 percent of the freshman class. By 2009, the university had increased those numbers to 61 countries and 11 percent, along the way adding 932 new high schools sending students to Boston. How did they do it, and why? According to Philly mantella, northeastern’s senior vice president of enrollment and student life, officials actively pursued a plan in line with the university’s “intent to expand our reach, and to pursue opportunities beyond the region.” Also important was the fit with the university’s “obligation to prepare a global citizenry.” If there is a Holy Grail to rescue the beleaguered college admissions office today, it seems to be the vision of a flock of full-paying international students swarming from abroad, cash in hand, diversity in pocket, to balance the hard times of budget cuts, limited staff travel, financial aid pressures, and demographic shifts. one of the hot topics at the national Association for College Admission Counseling (nACAC) conference in Baltimore this past fall was the presence of international students from China and, more incidentally, such other countries as India, and how to manage what was being seen as a rising tide of qualified candidates. How to find them? How to assess them? How to enroll and support them? The national media has been replete with coverage of this issue, yet data show that after a dip following the 2001 terrorist attacks, international applications and enrollments have risen substantially. According to the Institute of International education’s 2009 “open doors” report, new international student enrollment has increased markedly every year since 2004-2005; from 2007-2008 to 2008-2009, there were 200,469 new international students, an increase of 15.8 percent. overall, 671,616 internationals were studying in the united states last year, almost half of them undergraduates. some two-thirds of internationals were paying for their education through their own or family funds, an increase of 12.1 percent from the previous year. India was barely ahead of China as the top source of internationals (103,260), with China (98,235) having increased its students by more than 21 percent from the previous year. our experience as admissions counselors as well as our involvement in a variety of internet-based I http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - June 2010

University Business - June 2010
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Financial Aid
Internet Technology
2010 Higher Education Guide to Audio/Visual Services
Green 2010
Viewpoint
The Quest for Internationals
What's New
End Note

University Business - June 2010