OU International Program Experiences Decline Since 9-11

Associated Press

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- When the Twin Towers fell to the ground nine years ago, the rumblings of the crash sent a shock wave from New York through the rest of the world, including the University of Oklahoma.

OU President David Boren credits the terrorist attacks to stalling the university's enrollment of international students, which until 2009 continued to decline, according to OU's 2010 Factbook.

"The U.S. has made the mistake of becoming less inviting of international students since 9-11," Boren said in an e-mail statement. "It is imperative that international students come study in the United States because when they come, they begin to understand us better and have an increased respect for our culture and values."

The number of international students enrolled in 2009 was 1,502. That is 75 less than in 2000, prior to the attacks, according to OU's 2010 Factbook. And 513 of those students were new, said Monica Sharp, director of International Student Services at OU.

Last year, however, was the first time enrollment numbers for international students took an upturn from their continued downward slope since 1995.

And it's not just at OU, said Sharp, adding that the dip in international student numbers has been a post 9-11 trend nationwide at universities.

Initially after the attacks, the United States was recluse, tightening airport security and its entryways to the country, including the process for obtaining a student VISA to study in the United States.

Prior to Sept. 11, VISA applications could be mailed for approval, Sharp said.

Now, prospective students must complete an in-person interview to receive a VISA, she said.

"It's just made it more complicated," said Sharp, adding that many of these students have to travel lengthy distances for the interview before they make the plane ride to the United States. "That really slowed down our pipeline."

And the pipe became more clogged when OU began using SEVIS, a student and exchange visitor program through the Department of Homeland Security. SEVIS tracks and monitors foreign students while studying in the United States.

"But we've smoothed out the wrinkles now," Sharp said.

Sharp said she doubted credibility of claims that international students were swayed from American universities out of fear, noting that she hasn't seen a study supporting this.

She credited schools like OU's College of Earth and Energy for attracting students from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Vietnam, along with China, India and South Korea -- countries that rank at the top nationally among international student country origins.

"We have a really interesting mix here because of our disciplines," Sharp said. "International students are part of the way OU can feel like it's an international sphere of influence when they're on campus."

Juxtaposed against Boren's concern of international student enrollment, the number of OU students spending a semester abroad has been on a steady incline, said Jack Hobson, director of study abroad at OU.

Hobson said he didn't have exact numbers prior to Sept. 11, but said it has been a steady increase since he became a staff member in the spring of 2002.

He said 756 students studied abroad last year, about a 16 percent increase, which he credited to Boren's push to expand programs abroad.

"It's a good thing for us as individuals to see ourselves from the outside in, and that's hard to do in your own country," Hobson said. "It makes us all richer people to understand the world in a global complex. It definitely makes the world smaller, and I think that's a good thing."