Increasing difficulties for international students
International student enrollment has decreased since last year, but efforts to reverse this trend are in the works.
By Vaune Wilson
Skiff Staff

International student enrollment is down by 10 students because obtaining a student visa is more difficult since Sept. 11, said John Singleton, director of international student affairs.

Last year, 44 of the 1,514 freshmen were international students. This year 34 of the 1,451 freshmen are international students, said Joan Yates, administrative assistant for international admissions.

The number is higher than expected, she said.

TCU admits international students and issues them immigration documents to prove that they are students enrolled in the university to give to the U.S. embassy in their respective country, Singleton said. Since Sept. 11, these documents can no longer be submitted in person. They are mailed and then used to determine whether an in-person interview will be needed or if the visa can be issued, he said. There could be 30 to 90 days between submission of documents and an in-person interview during which intensive background checks are conducted.

If an embassy decides an applicant does not have strong enough ties to his or her home country, a visa will likely be denied at the “officer’s discretion”, Singleton said. They want to make sure that international students don’t have an “intent to immigrate,” he said. Most students who are denied visas are rejected because these ties are deemed too weak, not because of failed background checks, he said.

The slow world economy is also to blame for the smaller number of international students, said Karen Scott, director of undergraduate international admissions. Parents are sending their children to smaller, less prestigious private schools or public schools, she said.

Fear is also a factor.

“People are more nervous about coming to the United States,” she said.

As a result, England and Australia are taking advantage and upping their recruiting efforts to international students who want to study at an English-speaking university, Singleton said.

To recruit more international students, the international admissions office is talking about completely redoing the international section of the admissions Web site, Scott said. Most international students research U.S. colleges online, Yates said.

Scott said she would also like to start a program to bring international high school counselors to TCU to visit and take information back to their respective countries.