International Student Population Growing

The international student population at Sam Houston State University is growing, and officials are ecstatic about what it means to American students at SHSU.

"We all benefit from having international students at Sam Houston State, but the primary beneficiaries are the students who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to interact with international students," said Jurg Gerber, director of international programs.

"As the world becomes smaller in terms of technology, communication and economics, students who have some international exposure will be at an advantage when they enter the work force," said Gerber.

Enrollment of international students at SHSU has risen over 38 percent since fall 2000.  This increase comes in spite of restrictions that have been placed on foreign students coming to the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.

Gerber is especially pleased about the number of returning undergraduate and graduate international students to the university.

"The number of returning students is a measure of retention and one measure of satisfaction among the students," he said.

International students come to Sam Houston State University for a variety of reasons.  Some have been foreign exchange students who lived in Texas while they were attending high school, and chose to continue their education at SHSU because they were familiar with the university.  Some have contacts with individuals associated with SHSU.

"We have some very sophisticated international students attending our university," Gerber said.  

"They have researched American colleges and universities on the Internet and attended recruiting fairs in their home countries," said Gerber.  "They are knowledgeable about our programs before they get here."

Also, the English Language Institute on campus is serving well as an avenue to guide students into the university's undergraduate programs.

The country with the most international students attending SHSU is Japan with 39.  China is next with 29, India follows with 25, South Korea has 20, Canada has 12 and Turkey has 10.

Other countries with more than one student include Taiwan, Thailand, Mexico, United Kingdom, Belize, Venezuela, Sweden, Jordan, Botswana, Germany, Chile, Ireland and Morocco.

Countries with one student attending include Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sri Lanka and Yugoslavia.

International graduate students are enrolled in 19 programs on campus, with criminal justice, business, and computer science leading the numbers.

Twenty-nine undergraduate programs have international students enrolled, with biology, business, computer science, criminal justice and psychology having the most students.

"As our international students graduate and return to their native countries, we are seeing that they are telling their friends about Sam Houston State University," said Gerber.  

"I expect that this program will continue to grow and that we will see very bright international students enrolling in our university in the future," said Gerber.

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SHSU Media Contact: Julia May
Sept. 22, 2003
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