Foreign applicants on decline in U.S.

A recent survey of more than 500 academic institutions reported that there has been a significant decline in the number of international student applicants.

The survey, completed by several education advocacy groups, showed that nearly half of the 250 institutions that supplied graduate school applications data witnessed a decrease in foreign applicants. The decline was most noticeable among doctoral and research institutions.

Researchers said that the reasons for the decrease are difficult to pinpoint but could be a result of the tightened U.S. terrorism policy.

"The general feeling on the part of students is that the U.S. is not as welcoming as it used to be," said Peter Syverson, the vice president for research of the Council of Graduate Schools. "It's a more difficult place to be a graduate student than it used to be."

Many students have had visa issues as a result of legislation passed in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Knowledgeable people are talking about the outright [difficulties in] obtaining visa clearance," Syverson said. "Word has got out that [visa] interviews are tough," and this could be discouraging to international students.

A report from the General Accounting Office, the investigative branch of Congress, verifies the difficulties of obtaining a visa. It takes 67 days on average for students to receive a visa after applying. According to the report, the delay can stretch to several months or even a year.

According to Barry Toiv, spokesman for the Association of American Universities, research institutions enroll the most international students, with many coming from China and India. In these two countries, the wait for an interview and visa is particularly lengthy, which Toiv said could account for the fact that 19 of the top 25 research institutions reported a decline of more than 10 percent among international graduate applications.

Potentially even more troublesome to international students is the matter of readmission to the United States.

"There's a real issue of being able to leave the country and come back in a reasonable amount of time," Toiv said. He added that there were cases of previously admitted students being forced to stay in their own countries for several months.

Last March, Yahya Jalil, a Pakistani Wharton MBA student, was denied re-entry to the country after traveling to London on a four-day job search.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied his re-entry because he did not register his departure before leaving the country.

The trend of decreasing international student applications has not been reflected at Penn, especially in the undergraduate community.

"We have seen a steady number of applications from the international community over the last number of years," Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said. "In our international travel, our admissions officers have seen more interest in Penn over the last several years."

The surveyors said that if the decline in international graduate applicants develops into a trend, it could actually be detrimental to U.S. security. International students, they said, are vital to the scientific and technological developments that form the bastions of domestic security.

"If [decline] continues, there will be a significant, immeasurable problem," Syverson said. "We'll be missing some of the best and brightest students from around the world."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.