International applications on the rise

The University has taken several steps to increase its international focus over the past decade, from adding the phrase "and in the service of all nations" to its motto at the University's 250th anniversary in 1997, to President Tilghman's recently formed committee on international opportunities. And consistent with a trend among elite universities, Princeton has admitted increasingly more international students in recent years.

Though the Office of Admission says that international students bring unique perspectives to the student body, some alumni object to admitting students from abroad while passing over qualified American applicants, arguing that the University should serve the nation before serving the world.

Six percent of the students admitted to the Class of 2003 were international students, and since then, the proportion of international students in each class has risen steadily. International students make up 10.6 percent of the admitted Class of 2011.

"I think that one of the lessons from the last century with the two World Wars is that there is nothing more important than our ability to communicate with those from other backgrounds and other cultures," Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said in an interview. "I think that we would not be fulfilling the mission of this University if we were not thinking about Princeton's place in the world, not just in this country."

The international applicant pool has also grown steadily since Rapelye took up her post in 2003, though she declined to provide statistics from before this year's admissions cycle. There were 3,242 international applications for the Class of 2011.

The admit rate among international students is traditionally much lower than the overall acceptance rate, with 5.9 percent of international applicants offered admission to the Class of 2011, compared to 9.5 percent for the overall applicant pool.

Since Princeton does not have professional schools, it is sometimes not as well-known in the international community as Harvard or Yale. "We do have to work harder in some circles because we don't have a medical school, a law school or a business school," Rapelye said, "but I'm willing to do that work."

The Office of Admission has stepped up its efforts to travel and meet international students, especially in Asia and South America. "You don't have to sell Princeton," Rapelye said, "but you do have to be there. We can't expect students to come to us if we don't go to them."

There are many reasons why the number of applications from specific countries changes from year to year. "There is no one reason why international students apply to us, and there is no one place where they come from," Rapelye said.

Sometimes the number is based on how many college-bound students are in the country, on the number of college spots that are available within the country and on other unexpected factors. "We often see with South American countries that applications rise and fall with the exchange rate," she said.

Rapelye said that financial aid has also helped lure international applicants to the University. "Our policy change about five years ago to offer financial aid to international students significantly changed how undergraduate international students see Princeton because we have money for them when other schools don't."

As the Office of Admission has devoted more energy to attracting international students, some alumni have objected to the practice of admitting international students while rejecting domestic applicants.

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Marta Richards '73, president of the Princeton Alumni Association of Baton Rouge, is an outspoken critic. "It isn't wrong to think of [admissions] as scarce resource allocation," she said. "It should be directed toward our country first."

Richards said the University should not emphasize international recruitment while it is receiving record numbers of exceptional American applicants. "We have 20 applicants per spot," she said. "I do not see why we are bringing in more [international students]. We have enough now."

Richards acknowledged the need for international exposure as part of a Princeton education, noting that when she was an undergraduate in the 1970s, the University's student population was "not just a whole lot of white, male, snobby people."

"While I agree that there is some need to incorporate international people and ideas into the Princeton experience," she said, "I question the overall concept of internationalization."

She said that instead of treating the University as an "indigenous institute," Rapelye "treats it as some sort of global resource" that takes in international students, noting that "no matter how diverse the group which comes in, Princeton seems to turn out a cookie-cutter product."

She added that the University has lost track of its traditions by trying to be in the service of all nations. "I think that we do what we do well," she said. "We should not try to be all things for the whole world."

Harvard's director of international undergraduate admissions, Robin Worth, declined to comment on Harvard's international admissions process and related statistics.

For Harvard's class of 2011, 9.1 percent of the admitted students are international, up from 8.7 percent for the class of 2010.

Eight percent of Yale's current freshman class is international, about the same as it has been for the last three years. Gila Reinstein, an assistant director in the Office of Public Affairs, said that Yale does not give out information on applicants but only on matriculated students.