Purdue News

November 10, 2000 Purdue leads public universities in international enrollment WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University leads the nation's public institutions in international student enrollment for the second consecutive year and trails only the University of Southern California among all colleges and universities. There are 4,458 students from 130 countries enrolled at the West Lafayette campus, up 7.9 percent from last fall, said Michael Brzezinski, director of International Students and Scholars. Purdue set records with undergraduate enrollment, 1,934 students, and graduate enrollment, 2,524 students. "Purdue has become the institution of choice for some of the world's best and brightest students and scholars," Brzezinski said, noting that Purdue also is supported by 455 faculty and staff from 51 nations. Michael Stohl, dean of International Programs added, "International learning is at the heart of Purdue’s educational mission. The academic quality and diversity of our international student population enhances the learning experience for all Purdue students." Brzezinski said undergraduate international student enrollment has grown more than 200 percent during the decade. Much of the growth has occurred during the past six years as Purdue initiated changes that streamlined the admissions and transfer processes. These include use of electronic mail, online admissions applications and a prospective student database. The changes have decreased the time between application and admission from several weeks to a couple of days. "These enhancements were a very concerted effort and directly related to the universitywide continuous improvement initiatives," Brzezinski said. Since 1997, staff from International Students and Scholars and the Office of Admissions have traveled to Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East to meet with prospective students and high school guidance counselors. The process has encouraged more students from other countries to apply to Purdue than ever before, Brzezinski said. Applications for the fall 2000 semester increased 12 percent from the previous year. However, as part of a universitywide plan to manage undergraduate student enrollment, only 266 international freshmen started at Purdue this fall, compared with 358 a year ago. The admissions standards have remained high and students are well-prepared to learn in an English-speaking classroom, Brzezinski said. More than half of the international freshmen graduated from schools where classes are taught in English. First-year international students scored well above average on the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Average scores were higher than what Purdue requires for international teaching assistants. International students also tend to stay in college and complete their degrees, Brzezinski said. Of the undergraduate students who started at Purdue in 1999, 89 percent were still on campus a year later. Among the international students who started undergraduate programs in 1994, 70.1 percent had completed their degrees within five years, a higher percentage than domestic students. Slightly more than 70 percent of Purdue's international students hail from Asia. India ranks first with 808, followed by the People's Republic of China with 679. Source: Michael Brzezinski, (765) 494-5770, mab@iss.purdue.edu Writer: J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; jwillis1@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page