Fees cause decrease in foreign enrollment

By INGA LUKAVICIUTE / The Collegian

Tuition fee hikes, shortages of classes and increased difficulty obtaining visas are some of the reasons for the drop in international student enrollment at Fresno State.

The international student enrollment at Fresno State decreased from 793 in fall 2003 to 691 in fall 2004, according to Carol Munshower, the director of International Student Services and Programs (ISSP),
The decrease in international student enrollment at Fresno State mirrors the situation across the United States. There was a 36 percent decline in international applications nationwide between fall 2003 and fall 2004, according to a study conducted by five educational associations.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the number of international students coming to study in the U.S. has decreased, according to a report published this month in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The same report states that some schools experienced as high as 46 percent decrease between 2001 and 2002.

Although the increased post Sept. 11 security situation has changed the process of obtaining a visa, Munshower said, it is not the reason for the international student enrollment decline at Fresno State.
“Our decline in numbers is based on cost,” Munshower said.

Students said they blame the tuition rise for the decline of international enrollment, as well.

“Fresno State has not shown enough security for international students to plan out their finances,” said Juan Moncayo, a physics major from Ecuador.

The tuition keeps going up, and it is difficult to plan for it. Moncayo said many international students come from middle-class families and it is a financial effort for them to pay registration fees and tuition.
“It is not expensive like Ivy League, but it is not pocket money,” Moncayo said.

Some students have financial problems, said Yumi Otsuka, a communication major from Japan.

“When I came here, it was $240 per unit. Now it is $339,” Otsuka said.

International students who started when the fees were lower are hit the hardest since they have to come up with additional money to cover the tuition increase, Moncayo said.

Finding jobs and financial aid also poses problems for internationalstudents, said Vishal Raina, an electrical engineering major from India.

Due to class cuts, many students interested in technical classes choose to go to different schools, Raina said.

“Just because we are international students, we can’t work,” said Sana Alsaudi, an American English Institute student planning to study geology at Fresno State.

There is a reason for international students not being able to work on campus their fist semester.

“We want students to get grounded in academics first,” said Munshower, explaning why international students are not allowed to work on-campus during their first semester.

If their grades are good, international students are given permission to work on-campus, Munshower said. After one year, based on economic hardship, international students can apply for an off-campus work permit through the Department of Homeland Security.

Munshower said increased security concerns after Sept. 11 have also changed the visa process for all international students. For most countries, people now must apply in person instead of through the mail.

It can take days to months to get a visa. Beginning last September, international students applying for visas had to pay a $100 SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) fee on top of other visa fees, Munshower said.

Obtaining a student visa is not very difficult and not that different from the pre- Sept. 11 process in their countries, said students from Japan, India, Jordan, Indonesia and Ecuador.

Some students described their experience of getting a U.S. visa as negative.

“According to United States’ foreign policy, everyone is treated like a potential terrorist,” said Antonina Trachuk, a graduate student from Russia in mass communication and journalism.

As a Fullbright scholarship recipient, Trachuk said she did not expect to have any difficulties in obtaining a visa. Trachuk said she was pessimistic about getting her visa after a 15-minute interview.

“I was expecting the interviewer to reject me,” Trachuk said.

People at the ISSP office are concerned with the visa-obtaining process, since it can “color” the experience of coming to the United States and is not always a pleasant start, Munshower said.