Akron Beacon Journal

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15999969.htm



Colleges send more students overseas

By Carol Biliczky



November 13, 2006

Kent State is well down the list of American institutions in the number of students it sends abroad -- 144th, to be exact.

But the numbers are growing rapidly, and at least one KSU official is hopeful that someday 10 to 20 percent of KSU students will elect to study overseas.

Nationwide, that kind of interest already is percolating at many colleges and universities, with the number studying overseas rising 8 percent in 2004-05 to about 206,000, according to the Institute of International Education, a not-for-profit organization in New York City that promotes foreign study.

The institute released its annual report on international education today.

``American colleges are providing more opportunities for students to have an international experience,'' said Allan E. Goodman, president and CEO of the institute.

Nationwide, the exodus was buoyed by steadily growing interest in study in Asia and South America, with travel to China growing 34 percent to 6,389 students. While the numbers were much smaller, study in Argentina was up 53 percent to 2,013 students and in Brazil, up 28 percent to 1,994 students.

The report also indicated that the number of foreign students enrolled in American colleges and universities -- 564,766 -- remained fairly stable this year over the previous one.

India accounted for 58 percent of all foreign enrollment. The number of students from the Middle East -- among them Lebanon, Syria and Qatar -- grew 2 percent last year.

Ohio, the nation's seventh most populous state, is ninth nationwide in the number of international students enrolled on its campuses. The number rose less than 1 percent to 18,000 students last year.

The Ohio State University -- now the nation's largest university -- was 14th for sending 1,580 students to foreign countries.

OSU was first among all of Ohio's state universities. Miami University came in second with 1,434 students, and Ohio University's main campus was third with 1,063 students.

At Kent State, Ken Cushner, executive director of international affairs, said interest in foreign study is growing, with 550 KSU students studying overseas last year.

That represents 1.8 percent of the main Kent campus and is an increase of more than a third over 2004-05, the year on which the newly released study focuses.

``Particularly since 9/11, people are realizing there's a wider world out there and we better know about it,'' Cushner said. ``It didn't scare Americans away.''

Among KSU's overseas programs are ones for architecture, fashion merchandising and design, and general studies, all of which are in a 700-year-old former palace that the university rents in Florence, Italy.

``We've seen a lot of interest in short-term, faculty-led programs that often lead to more study or internships,'' Cushner said.

He declined to speculate on the number of Kent students who would study abroad this year, but said 85 architecture students are bound for Florence, a record high.

Among other colleges and universities in the Akron area, the University of Akron sent 159 students overseas in 2004-05; Baldwin-Wallace College, 128; the College of Wooster, 112; Hiram College, 91; and Mount Union College, 52, according to the institute.

Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.