Student Loan Blog : International Students

Dorms Add to Community Colleges’ Appeal

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:19:00 GMT

In an attempt to offer a low-cost alternative to college students who typically attend more expensive private and public institutions, community colleges have started building on-campus dorms, a move that may soon alter the commuter culture at such schools, reports the Los Angeles Times (“Community Colleges Add Dorms to Boost Appeal,” April 7, 2009).

With tuition rising at most colleges and universities across the country, experts say that larger numbers of college-age students are opting to enroll in two-year schools offering the same type of college dormitory life traditionally found only at a four-year university. And many community colleges are actively promoting their on-campus housing amenities in their recruitment of international students and athletes, two demographics who often prefer on-campus housing.

“We do think it’s a trend for more community colleges to provide residential housing for students,” said Norma Kent, spokeswoman for the American Association of Community Colleges.

States Responding to Need for Community College Dorms

Dorms at community colleges are being built in Washington state, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, and California, where both the University of California and the California State University systems have said they will severely limit freshmen enrollment this fall.

Educators believe that California — with nearly 2.8 million community college students or roughly 25 percent of the nation’s total community college population — may be particularly ripe for adding new dorms.

With both of the state’s university systems accepting fewer freshmen this year, many of the 4,000 first-year students who’ve been denied admission to those four-year schools may be more likely to consider a two-year school that offers on-campus housing versus one that doesn’t.

And what may come as a surprise, the Los Angeles Times reports, is that 11 community colleges in the state already have dorms, although many of those decades-old dorms resemble 1950s-era military barracks. Other dorms, like those at Sierra College near Sacramento, have been updated and include meal plans honored at local restaurants, one of many features intended to lure students to its campus.

Cerro Coso Community College, a 300-student school located in Mammoth Lakes, says that its South Gateway Student Apartments — an $8.5 million residence hall built last August that can house 59 students — is the first new community college housing to go up in California in 20 years. Funded by a grant from the Mammoth Lakes Foundation, the new dorms aren’t cheap: $900 a month for a single room or $750 a month for a shared room, plus meals.

Feedback from students regarding community college dorms is largely positive. Some students say they’re succeeding at school for the first time and that they enjoy the intimate surroundings and small class sizes that community colleges can offer.

Sharon Carroll, a student at Cerro Coso Community College, said that if she had to fight the traffic and large class sizes of an urban community college, “I would have been sick of school already. I figured out a lot from being here. It made me want to go to a four- year college.”

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Foreign Graduate Students Say ‘No Thanks’ to U.S. MBA Programs

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:44:00 GMT

Concerned about future job prospects, international graduate students are turning down offers from prominent American business schools and instead choosing to pursue graduate programs outside the United States, BusinessWeek reports (“World to U.S. B-Schools: Thanks, But No Thanks,” March 19, 2009).

Nishant Banore, an MBA school applicant from India, received an offer of admission along with a $30,000 fellowship from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California Los Angeles and considered himself one step closer to achieving his dream of an American education.

However, when Banore looked at the deteriorating U.S. economic climate, the new restrictions on hiring foreign workers, and the lack of U.S. job prospects, he decided that an American MBA was simply too risky.

“I don't think I can leave my family’s future on luck and hope,” Banore, who lives in Mumbai, told BusinessWeek. He turned down the admissions offer from Anderson to attend one of the top business schools in his home country, the Indian School of Business.

U.S. Policy Makes Hiring Foreign Students Difficult

Banore’s decision comes at a time when U.S. public policy regarding international students is becoming increasingly unfriendly. When the government bailed out failing financial institutions last year and injected these corporations with taxpayer money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, it imposed strict limitations regarding the hiring of foreign workers who needed work visas.

Now a growing number of foreign students are planning to return home after graduation, according to a study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation released earlier this month, with many students believing that their job prospects may be better at home.

Survey results indicate that students are afraid they won’t be able to land a job in the United States after graduation, and a majority of these students — including 85 percent of Indian students and 72 percent of Europeans — think they may have difficulty getting U.S. work visas.

Lack of Graduate School Funding Limits Students’ Options

In addition to having fewer employment options, many foreign graduate students are facing another challenge: getting the money they need for school. Previously, foreign students could take advantage of loan programs that allowed them to secure as much as $150,000 in student loans without needing a co-signer, BusinessWeek reports. Now, since the banks offering these programs have exited the student loan market and many of the nation’s top business schools have yet to find replacements, foreign students have few options to fund their education.

According to the International Institute of Education, of the 623,805 foreign students enrolled in the United States in 2007, 276,842 were graduate students, more than 16 percent of whom were studying in graduate finance or MBA programs.

This academic year American business schools may see fewer foreign students enroll, said Dave Wilson, president of the Graduate Management Admissions Council, an international association of business schools, particularly from China and India which have historically provided American business schools with a large number of applications.

“You look at the cost, the difficulty of getting financing — and then suddenly our wonderful Congress decides they don’t want you to come,” Wilson said. “I worry people are not going to come at all.”

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In a Recession, U.S. College Students Head to Canada

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:15:00 GMT

College-age students who want a higher education without the hefty high price tag are heading to Canada, where a college education can cost nearly half of what it would cost in the United States, reports The Boston Globe (“Canada: Passport to Higher Ed, Lower Cost,” Dec. 25, 2008).

The number of Americans attending Canadian universities has grown to 9,000 students, double the amount of American students that crossed the Canadian border for college just seven years ago, according to the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

And this year alone — in which the U.S. economy continues to reach new lows — Canadian universities have seen a surge in U.S. interest: Dalhousie University in Halifax has received triple the amount of information requests from New England students than it normally receives, and McGill University in Montreal has already enrolled 100 Massachusetts students.

Affordable tuition rates at Canadian universities and a smaller gap between the U.S. and Canadian dollar allow Americans the opportunity to get a college education in Canada at a value. The average cost of tuition and fees for American undergraduate students attending Canadian colleges and universities is $14,487, far less than the cost of tuition and fees at four-year private institutions in the United States, which average $23,712.

“Students don’t usually come in and say ‘I want to go to Canada,’” said Joan Casey, an education consultant in Massachusetts. “But then they hear about the cost and think: ‘$18,000 for everything? That’s pretty amazing.’”

In addition to the cost differential, Canadian schools are appealing to American students because they may still be eligible for merit-based financial aid and can still use their U.S. federal student loans at Canadian colleges.

High school counselors also point out that American students are often enticed by the fact that Canada’s college admissions process, which often doesn’t include interviews and doesn’t require admissions essays, is far simpler and far less competitive than the U.S. admissions process. In fact, Americans may be able to get accepted to a better school in Canada than they would have in the United States.

“Students are willing to look more broadly geographically,” said Brad MacGowan, a college counselor at Newton North High School in Massachusetts, which has sent 10 students to McGill University over the past three years. “And Canadian colleges are looking for them.”

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California State University System May Turn Away Up to 10,000 Qualified Students

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:21:00 GMT

At the same time that the nation’s largest college system, California State University, is experiencing soaring admissions — up 10 percent over last year — the college system has announced it may begin turning away qualified students due to a state budget shortfall that could reach $24 billion by 2010, The Los Angeles Times reports (“CSU May Cut Future Enrollment by 10,000,” Nov. 18, 2008).

In anticipation of a possible $66 million midyear budget reduction, the Cal State system will be moving up application deadlines and increasing the academic standards for admission to help weed out some students. Cal State University system chancellor, Charles Reed, has said the school system needs to pare back its 450,000 enrollment at 23 campuses by 10,000 students for the 2009–10 school year.

Since the university system has never had to limit enrollments before, university officials aren’t exactly sure which students — freshmen, sophomore transfer, international, or out-of-state — will be most affected by the rollbacks. But the enrollment-cut proposition has left some administrators thinking that California high school graduates will perhaps be the hardest hit.

If the school system cuts just 5,000 students, first-year admissions, which typically reach 50,000 students, would take a 10- percent cut.

“These are going to be kids who have done everything they’re supposed to do, and told year after year they’ll have this opportunity,” said Kathy Rapkin, chair of the counseling department at California’s Arcadia High School. “These kids are not going to get a place.”

Other Institutions May Be Affected by the State Budget Shortfall

Schools in the California State system are not the only institutions in the state that may be impacted by the $24 billion state budget shortfall. Administrators for the University of California system have said they may have to limit admissions to their most popular campuses and send students to the system’s less-populated campuses, UC Riverside and UC Merced. They have not issued statements regarding enrollment cuts.

Officials at California’s community colleges don’t anticipate having to reduce their enrollment numbers, but they may have to limit students’ access to certain classes.

Diane Woodruff, chancellor of the California Community Colleges System Office, said, of the 2.7 million students currently enrolled in California community colleges, some 250,000 students, or nearly 10 percent, could be driven away.

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Citibank Suspends Student Loan Program for International Students

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:04:00 GMT

Citibank announced it is canceling its private student loan program for international students in an effort to minimize its financial risk during the global financial crisis, Bloomberg reports (“Citigroup Curbs Foreign-Student Loans at Harvard, MIT, Michigan,” Oct. 15, 2008).

The lender’s CitiAssist private student loan program allowed international students at certain schools to borrow as much as $150,000 in private student loans without a cosigner; similar programs required that international borrowers have a U.S. citizen or permanent resident cosign on the loans.

Citibank informed MIT and the University of Michigan this month that it will stop making CitiAssist loans to the schools’ international students in November, just before students begin borrowing for the 2009–2010 academic year. Earlier this month, the bank also terminated its international lending program at Harvard University.

CitiAssist “did fill a very important role,” says Elizabeth Hicks, executive director of student financial services at MIT, where more than 200 of the school’s foreign students at the Sloan School of Management will have fewer borrowing options to help them meet their education costs, which total nearly $76,000.

International Student Loans Drying Up, More Banks Unwilling to Lend

In suspending its lending program to international students, Citibank joins Bank of America, one of the largest providers of student loans to foreign students, which terminated its foreign student lending program in April.

Other lenders are not likely to fill in the lending gap to international students, due, in part, to the fact that international students have a higher likelihood of default than U.S. students and because loans to “international students are not the most profitable loans,” says Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.org, a financial aid website sponsored by Citibank’s parent company Citigroup.

Analyst Daniello Natoli, of New York-based financial firm Matrix USA, adds, “It makes sense for [Citibank] to move away from riskier products such as loans to international students, whose creditworthiness is more difficult to assess.”

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Canada Tweaks its Work-Permit Program to Better Retain International Students

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:29:00 GMT

Foreign college students studying in Canada may find it easier to work in the country after they graduate thanks to changes to the Citizenship and Immigration department’s Post-Graduation Work Permit Program, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Canada Makes it Easier for Foreign Students to Work After Graduation,” April 23, 2008).

Under the new changes, eligible foreign graduates from the country's colleges and universities are no longer required to have a job offer to get a work permit and they may work anywhere in Canada for up to three years after receiving their degree, as opposed to two years under the previous program.

The changes come after foreign–study academic advisors and students complained about the restrictions of the 2005 Post-Graduation Work Permit Program. Under the previous program, international students had only 90 days after graduation to land a job, potential employers often lacked proper information about the program, and the program’s official documents often contained contradictory information.

In a study conducted last October, Sheryl Bond, a professor of education at Queen’s University in Ontario, found that out of 900 foreign students surveyed about the 2005 program, only one-third were planning to stay in Canada after they graduated, The Chronicle reported (“Report Assails Canadian Program Aimed at Drawing Foreign Students,” Oct. 27, 2007).

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Prices of International Student Visas Set to Double

Student Loan Girl — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:02:00 GMT

Beginning October 1, 2008, student-visa fees will practically double in price, making it more costly for international students to study in the United States, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Student-Visa Fees to Support Federal Surveillance Program Could Double,” April 22, 2008).

The increased fees will affect international students applying for student, exchange-visitor, or other similar nonimmigrant visas (in categories known as F, J, or M visas). Those applying for F-1 student visas would have to pay $200, while those submitting applications for a J-1 exchange-visitor visa would need to pay $180, both up from $100.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is pushing for the increase to pay for upgrades to its Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or Sevis and to pay for more program enforcement agents. The program was created in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and monitors the activity of all foreign students’ and exchange visitors’ activities.

Homeland Security officials argue that the increased fees won’t deter international students from studying in the United States since the fees represent “less than one-half of one percent of the average tuition costs for a four-year college education.”

However, college administrators argue that the increases could further add to the perception that international students are unwelcome in this country, Victor Johnson, senior public policy advisor for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, told The Chronicle.

"The problem is, if those students want to study in any other country in the world, they don't have to pay that fee," Johnson said.

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Fewer Foreign Students Seeking Advanced Degrees in the U.S.

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:44:00 GMT

The growth rate of international students studying at American colleges and universities has slowed, despite an increase in foreign applications to U.S. educational institutions for the third straight year in a row, according to a recent survey.

The 2008 edition of the International Graduate Admissions Survey, a review conducted annually by the Council of Graduate Schools, found that the number of international applications increased by just 3 percent in 2008, compared to a 9-percent increase in 2007 and a 12-percent increase in 2006.

Applications are down for students from China, Korea, and India, who together account for the vast majority of international students studying in the United States each year.

The CGS survey also found a continued slowdown in the number of foreign students applying to U.S. science and engineering programs — two fields that draw heavily on international students.

In the physical sciences, applications increased by only 7 percent this year, after gains of 12 percent in 2007 and 15 percent in 2006. Meanwhile, the number of engineering applications rose by just 1 percent, following a 13-percent increase last year and a 19-percent jump between 2005 and 2006.

International Applicants Hampered by Tighter Visa Requirements

The decline in applications may be partially attributed to increased competition from advanced degree programs abroad, Karen Klomparens, dean of the graduate school at Michigan State University, told The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Growth in Foreign Applications to American Graduate Schools Slows,” April 14, 2008).

Klomparens points to Australia, New Zealand, and Europe as favored student destinations offering increased choice in doctoral education.

Some international students may also be deterred by stricter U.S. student visa requirements following the September 11^th terrorist attacks in 2001. Foreign students applying for U.S. visas must now submit to extensive record checks, a rigorous interview process, and continued monitoring.

“There’s a growing perception among international students that the United States is not as welcoming to international students as it has been in the past,” study author, Ken Redd, told the Seattle Post Intelligencer (“More Foreign Graduates Forsaking U.S. Colleges; Visa Crackdown Cited,” April 13, 2008).

Redd’s review of international graduate applications is the first phase in the three-part CGS survey that will also track offers of admission and final enrollment numbers.

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How Can Colleges Appeal to International Students?

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 31 May 2007 20:51:00 GMT

“Where international students study and why, what key motivators and barriers students from different countries might be most likely to consider, and how colleges can build on that knowledge to better recruit and serve students from around the globe were some of the key questions considered Tuesday as the 59th Annual NAFSA: Association of International Educators Annual Conference & Expo got under way in Minneapolis.” This is according to the May 30, 2007 article by Elizabeth Redden, titled “The Prospective (Foreign) Student,” that appeared in Inside Higher Ed.

Survey Conducted to Gain Better Understanding of Foreign Students

The article reported on one particular session at the conference called “Understanding and Engaging the International Student,” where “representatives from Hobsons, a student recruitment and enrollment management firm, presented data from a 2006 survey of about 28,000 prospective international students worldwide. The survey looks at such questions as why students wish to study abroad, their perceptions of various English-speaking destinations and why some appeal more than others, their expectations, and their key concerns.”

“The landscape for recruiting and retaining international students is changing, said Line Verbik, research manager at Hobsons,” as stated in the article. Apparently, since 9/11, there has been a decline in international student enrollment in the United States as reported in the article, which makes it even more important to figure out what needs these students have, so colleges can better serve them, recruit higher numbers of foreign students, and thereby increase international enrollment.

Results of Survey Show Common Trends

“Among the highlights presented Tuesday, which focused exclusively on the approximately 11,000 survey responders from China, Germany, India, Japan and Nigeria:

“When asked their reasons for wanting to study internationally, students across the board emphasized improving their opportunities for careers abroad and gaining experiences and better preparing for future careers in their home countries, as well as a sense that the standard of education is better abroad. But Verbik pointed out that students from countries with developed and less developed economies had different priorities: While students in Germany and Japan were most likely to list gaining new experiences as their top priority, Chinese, Indian and Nigerian students were more likely to stress getting a better education and preparing for their careers.
When it comes to perceptions, international students typically cited the strength of the education system and career preparation as top reasons to study in the United States and United Kingdom. While they mentioned Australia’s academic reputation, they were also more likely to point to other factors drawing them there — among them a more attractive lifestyle and the belief that it’s easier to get a student visa to study down under than in Europe or the United States, Verbik said.
Business and administration programs proved particularly popular with international students across the board. Information technology and engineering were especially popular with Indian and Nigerian students, whereas in Japan, for instance, social studies and art and design were the preferred fields after business.
Frequently cited expectations for education providers across countries included a safe location, responsive staff and good service, good sources of funding, good facilities and a strong institutional reputation for a course of study, although regional variations did persist. (Among them: German and Nigerian students were most likely to cite good facilities as the most important factor, while Chinese students pointed to reputation).
Chinese and Indian students said scholarships were their most important source of funding, while German, Japanese and Nigerian students pointed in greater proportions to relatives. Other popular sources of funding included bank loans (particularly popular in India, Verbik said), grants, sponsorships, savings and part-time work.
Confirming the conventional wisdom that word of mouth matters most, Hobsons found that in every country but Japan, friends were the most valued source of advice. In Japan, the teacher/lecturer was the preferred source (and in Germany, the teacher tied with friends for the top spot). Students returning home with stellar experiences are, Verbik said, ‘the best ambassadors.’
The cost of living and cost of tuition and fees were the most common barriers expressed in all countries, with concerns about visas cited by a much smaller proportion of students, Verbik said (although Nigerian students were most apt to mention visas as a barrier).”

Talk to the education finance advisors at NextStudent. They have all the information and advice you need on student loans. Check out www.nextstudent.com.

Be sure to tune in next Tuesday for my next blog about this week in student loans.

Student Loan Girl

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