Foreign student enrollment up

Despite an overall drop in international student enrollment at American colleges and universities since Sept. 11, 2001, the University's undergraduate-level foreign student enrollment has risen. Princeton's foreign graduate student numbers are down, however.

International undergraduate enrollment at the University rose to 8.4 percent in 2004 from 6.9 percent in 2001, while international graduate enrollment fell from 42.9 percent in 2001 to 39.9 percent in 2004.

Nationwide, international student enrollment declined slightly in 2004, according to a report recently released by the Institute of International Education. The number of international undergraduate students fell 2.9 percent, and the number of international graduate students fell 3.6 percent.

Enrollment fell more noticeably two years ago in 2003, the first time it had dropped in more than three decades.

"I ... think that the data would suggest that initially following September 11th and for two years after, there was definitely a downward trend [in] the number of international students coming to the United States," said Diane Jones, director of the University's Office of Government Affairs in Washington, D.C.

"At Princeton, our number of international students accepted was very stable during that period," Jones said. "It was our experience ... that the applicant pool was down but [that] there was not a reduction among the most qualified."

Immediately after Sept, 11, 2001, many international students encountered difficulty obtaining visas to come study in the United States.

Jones and other University representatives in Washington worked to change this.

"The visa problem is pretty much fixed," Jones said. "[The government] addressed our concerns and streamlined the processes. The problems are solved from our perspective. There is an occasional glitch, but visas are no longer to blame."

The recent drop in international student enrollment, she said, stems from changes in the world economy and foreign educational systems.

One reason, Jones explained, "is [that] other countries are smart ... and they took advantage [when] we had visa trouble, and now we are competing with England and Australia."

The application process is streamlined in England and Australia in ways that it is not in the United States. Australia now has universities that set up recruiting events in foreign countries. International students can be accepted on the spot.

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It is also very expensive to go to school abroad, especially in the United States. In England, a student can get a Ph.D. in three to five years, whereas the U.S. average is six to eight years.

"Once upon a time, people around the world looked at graduate degrees from the U.S. [as more than] a graduate degree from around the world," Jones said. "We are losing that edge."

Jones also explained that numbers have dropped due to the changing world economy. The visa crisis, according to Jones, just helped speed up the change.

"It used to be that if you were living in India, you had to come to the U.S. [to get work], but now U.S. companies have established facilities in India. Having technical degrees from very fine institutions in India is satisfying. [You] don't need a U.S. degree if you're going to work in your own country," Jones said.

Graduate departments like Princeton's will not suffer a drop in numbers, Jones said, because "we will always be a standout institution. People will always want to come to Princeton. That doesn't mean that we can rest on our laurels, but it will always have a fantastic reputation, so I think that our own data is different than international trends."