Fewer international students are enrolled at Northwestern this year, a university official said, which mirrors a national trend.

The number of undergraduate foreign students enrolled at American universities dropped 5 percent this year, according to “Open Doors 2004,” an annual report released this month by the Institute of International Education.

Associate Provost for University Enrollment Rebecca Dixon told The Daily that the number of freshman foreign students at NU also dropped this year, with five or six fewer international students enrolled in the class of 2008. Dixon said the decline is not significant.

Mary Schnetz, assistant director of NU’s International Office attributed the decrease in foreign student enrollment, both nationwide and at NU, to increasing scrutiny of students by the U.S. government for security reasons. This scrutiny affects students in certain fields of study and from certain countries — especially those from the Middle East and China.

Many international students at NU come from China and India, according to Schnetz. Students from Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria experience difficulty attending college in the United States because those countries are included on a State Department watch list of states that sponsor terrorism.

“There are sensitive fields of study, (such as) chemical engineering, that attract many foreign students,” said Schnetz, who added that these students face additional hurdles as a result of the passage of the USA Patriot Act. “Everyone (from the seven designated countries) is unfortunately subject to closer scrutiny.”

Background checks, a new $100 visa application fee and additional immigration procedures requiring foreign students’ fingerprints and photographs to be entered into a national database also discourage some students from applying to U.S. universities, officials said.

“Not having those types of students is a big loss intellectually,” said Titus Lee, a Weinberg junior from Singapore.

International educators want to work with the government to find a balance between security needs and the need for international exchange and cultural diversity, Schnetz said.

“Students worldwide look at all these barriers and its much more attractive to go elsewhere, (such as the) U.K. and Australia,” Schnetz said.

Lee said additional paperwork now required to study in the United States makes the process more inconvenient.

“I don’t think there are more difficulties, just more procedures,” Lee added.

For example, international students no longer receive Social Security numbers, Lee said, which makes it more difficult to buy cell phones, receive a driver’s license or apply for credit cards.

Although the number of foreign students enrolled at NU has not decreased significantly, Liz Matthews, associate director of NU’s International Office, is concerned about the lack of growth. In past years NU experienced a steady increase in foreign student enrollment.

“It is odd that the numbers haven’t grown any since 9/11,” Matthews said.

Reach Ashima Singal at [email protected].

Body 2 ———————————————————————–

 Patriot Act, immigration procedures lead to drop in international students enrolled at NU, universities nationwide

Body 3 ———————————————————————–

“Not having these types of students is a big loss intellectually.”

Titus Lee,

international student from Singapore

Body 4 ———————————————————————–

Red tape restricts international student visas