More international students chose Ohio


The Dayton Daily News went beyond the numbers to talk to international college students about why they chose Ohio.

Ohio was a top choice for international college students last year, keeping its spot as eighth in the nation for the number foreigners studying on campuses statewide.

Ohio nabbed 28,400 of the 819,600 international students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, according to the latest “Open Doors” report from the Institute of International Education.

The students spent an estimated $772 million in the state, contributed to the bottom lines of their colleges by paying higher education and helped expose Ohioans to other cultures and customs, according to the report and local educators.

“Ultimately, we’re trying to prepare our students for the global economy and this is one way to do that,” said Michelle Streeter-Ferrari, director of the University Center for International Education at Wright State University.

“They help internationalize our campus,” she said. “They make an enormous sacrifice to come here. They take it seriously and they add so much to our campus community and campus life.”

Virtually every local college and university increased its international enrollment at least a small amount this fall compared to last. The University of Dayton has more than tripled foreign enrollment, to 1,980 this fall from 599 in 2010.

Enrollment statewide jumped 7.5 percent this fall, and 41 percent of those students came from China, followed in a distance second by 13 percent from India, according to the report.

UD student Punit Gupta, a native of Chennai in south India, said he considers himself fortunate because many students in India dream of going overseas.

Still Gupta, 23, said it is a tough decision to come abroad because of the price.

“Honestly speaking, it’s really hard,” the chemical engineering graduate student said. “I can’t go back during midterm breaks because of travel time and even the flight price is really expensive. It’s been more than a year I’ve been gone. It’s a hard decision for any student to come overseas and stay here for a long term. It’s a different transformation. Some people experience culture shock.”

But Gupta said he is very happy he chose UD.

“I’ve learned so much that probably when I go to home country it’s going to be a culture shock,” he said.

Sonal Singh, 24 of India, said her parents pushed her to go abroad so she could meet more people.

“I was very timid and very shy-type girl,” she said.

Singh is pursuing her second master’s degree at UD in mechanical engineering.

Thani Chettiyar, 23, said studying in America will help him become a more well-rounded engineer. The Mumbai, India, native came to UD for his senior year as an undergraduate through a partnership program with a school there. He is now pursuing a graduate degree in electrical engineering.

He said the faculty to student ratio is lower at UD and “the professor knows your name.”

England native Josh Marks, a Wittenberg University students, said the atmosphere on his campus is “unlike anywhere else I’ve seen.” “Everyone is extremely friendly and helpful.”

International enrollment nationwide reached a record high this year, according to Open Doors. And the number of American students studying abroad also grew but lags international enrollment. About 11,000 students from Ohio colleges went abroad last year. Miami University ranks third in the nation for the 38 percent of its undergraduate who study abroad before they graduate.

“The hope is that the more people from different countries can have experiences. The hope is that improves relations ultimately between countries as this generation grows up,” said Molly Heidemann, senior international student and scholar advisor at Miami University.

And for American student who can’t go abroad, “it is one thing to read about another culture. It is quite another to sit down and chat, and work and learn right along side someone from another culture,” said Ruth Schumacher, director of the Office of International Studies at Urbana University.

“It gives them an experience they might not have because not all of them can study abroad.”

OHIO'S INTERNATIONAL STUDENT POPULATION
A larger number of international students are studying on local college campuses this fall compared to last.
Institution Fall 2012 Fall 2013
Ohio State University 6,142 6,478
University of Cincinnati 2,643 2,939
University of Dayton 1,572 1,980
Wright State University 1,038 1,477
Miami University Oxford 1,098 1,268
Sinclair Community College 61 86
Cedarville University 53 59
Miami University Regionals 14 56
Urbana University NA 47
Wittenberg University 40 42
Central State University 2 6
Source: Individual schools and "Open Doors" report

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