National security concerns have made it harder for international
students to obtain student visas, resulting in a decline in the
growth rate of foreign student enrollment.
But some experts believe the overall benefits of a stricter
student visa policy will outweigh any negative effects.
A report released this past week revealed the number of
international students enrolled in colleges and universities in the
United States grew less than 1 percent from last year, the lowest
growth rate since 1996.
The report, compiled by the Institute of International Education
with support from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,
showed the growth rate for international student enrollment fell to
0.6 percent after two years of a 6.4 percent annual growth.
The institute attributed the decline to several factors
including stricter visa procedures enacted since the Sept. 11, 2001
terrorist attacks. The institute lauded the changes that have
increased the monitoring of foreign students because they were made
in the best interests of national security, Allan Goodman,
president and CEO of the institute, said in a statement.
“We support the steps taken so far to increase scrutiny of
candidates who are applying for student visas,” Goodman
said.
UCLA reflected the national trend toward declining foreign
student rates with a slight decrease in foreign student enrollment
last year after several years of steady growth, according to the
UCLA Office of Academic Budget and Planning.
Despite this, UCLA ranked second in California and 11th in the
nation for total foreign student enrollment with nearly 4,000
international students, according to the institute’s report.
The University of Southern California was ranked first in the
nation, with over 6,000 international students.
A survey conducted in conjunction with the report found a
majority of educators ascribe the declining growth rates to the new
procedures required of foreign students seeking visas.
Cheryl Darrup-Boychuck, president and CEO of usjournal.com
““ an online aid for foreign students looking to studying in
the United States ““ acknowledged the problems that have
afflicted some students but was supportive of the changes in the
visa process.
“In the long run, those standards will make the U.S.
education system stronger,” Darrup-Boychuck said.
Second-year mechanical engineering graduate student Junichi
Takeuchi entered the United States shortly before the visa
application process was overhauled. His friend back in Japan,
however, was not so lucky.
“He had to wait a few months (to get his visa),”
Takeuchi said. “The process was long.”
Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, Congress passed the USA Patriot
Act, which increased the monitoring of foreign students for
national security purposes.
By late 2001, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information
System was born out of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program,
designed to track foreign students.
SEVIS is an electronic monitoring system which holds information
on every foreign student studying in the United States. As of this
school year, every college and university that accepts foreign
students is required to operate within SEVIS.
But the system has already shown some faults. Last summer, the
UCLA Office of International Students and Scholars issued a notice
that a problem with SEVIS resulted in a number of admitted foreign
students initially being denied visas.
In 2002, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act
increased inter-government agency sharing of visa applicant
information.
Recognizing that problems may result from these acts, the Bureau
of Consular Affairs issued a statement encouraging foreign students
to apply early for their visas.
The OISS echoed this advice.
International students need to plan well in advance of their
departure for the United States, Larry Gower, director of the OISS,
said in an e-mail.
“International students that I have talked to seem to
accept and understand the reasons for the changes,” Gower
said.