Grad School to pay government fee for international students

The University's Graduate School will reimburse incoming graduate students for the new federal $100 SEVIS fee, Graduate School Dean William Russel announced last month.

SEVIS — the Student Exchange Visitor Information System — is a government program that operates under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security and tracks international exchange students in the United States. The $100 fee, which went into effect Sept. 1, 2004, is designed to provide financial support for the program's operational costs.

The Graduate School's decision to cover the fee stems from a desire to ease the application and enrollment process for international students, Russel said.

"International applicants already have many frustrations in the process of applying and coming [to the University]," Russel said, citing travel and visa fees as some obstacles. "This is one way of stating that we still seek to attract outstanding international students."

Russel noted that the increased competition for top international graduate students in recent years was another factor in the decision to cover the fee.

The Graduate School suffered a 26 percent drop in international applications last year, part of a nationwide decline in international applications to U.S. academic institutions. This year, international applications to the University's Graduate School experienced a five to 10 percent increase from last year, Russel said.

Other leading U.S. graduate institutions are considering whether to cover the fee, Russel added.

"Harvard announced they would cover the fee a week before we did, but a lot of other institutions have not decided [whether to cover the fee] as of yet," he said.

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Though it is too early to gauge the response of this year's international applicants, current students, faculty and alumni have reacted positively to the Graduate School's decision, Russel said.

Weining Man of the University's Council of International Graduate Students said she is pleased with the University's decision. "Typically, international students have lower average incomes [than U.S. students]," she said. "I think this plan is very nice and helpful."

Russel said the Graduate School has no other plans to attract more international applicants, but remains committed to the goal.

"It is clear to all of us in the Graduate School that the overall educational experience here, not only in the Graduate School but also in the University as a whole, is immensely enriched . . . by the presence of international students," Russel wrote in an email to the Graduate School community, as quoted in a University press release.