International applications to American graduate schools, including Penn's, have increased for the first time in three years.
There were 11 percent more international applications for the coming academic year nationwide, according to a Council of Graduate Schools report issued last week.
At Penn, applications increased 7.6 percent overall during the last year, according to Deputy Provost Janice Bellace.
The increases may be attributed to the federal government and universities across the country making it easier for international students to apply.
At Penn, programs in the life sciences and business saw the greatest rise in applications, with 16.4 percent and 12.2 percent increases, respectively.
Growth in applications from China, India and Korea was especially strong for the University.
Council spokesman Stuart Heiser said this year's increase was due to the State Department streamlining visa processing, as well as individual schools' efforts to attract international students.
Still, the jump does not offset the decline in international applications in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when the government boosted security measures for entering the United States.
The result, Heiser said, was a perception that international students were not welcome.
Even with this year's 11 percent increase, international applications are down a net 23 percent from 2003, the first year after the new security measures' implementation in which international applicants could apply to Penn.
Administrators at Penn's graduate schools said that they have experienced the same trends that have been going on nationally.
Sampath Kannan, associate dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said that applications to SEAS' graduate programs, for example, were slightly over 60 percent international this year, up from the low to mid-50s.
He added that while this year's rate is an improvement, it is still below the peak pre-Sept. 11 level, which was in the high 60s.
The MBA program at Wharton -- one of three graduate programs the school offers -- also has yet to regain pre-Sept. 11 applicant levels.
The MBA program saw sharp drops in international applications in 2003 and 2004 and slight growth -- about 1 percent -- last year.
MBA admissions representative Mae Jennifer Shores said that the economy -- rather than Sept. 11 -- may have been to blame for the drop in international applications in previous years.
Now that the economy is better, she said, "things are beginning to pick up again."
The exact figures for MBA applicants in 2006 aren't yet available.
Meanwhile, the School of Arts and Sciences -- which has about 30 graduate programs -- had already seen an increase in international applications last year.
Patricia Rea, the admissions coordinator for the SAS graduate division, said there was a big surge in 2003, followed by a sharp drop in 2004.
Since then, however, the number of international applications has risen -- 3 percent in 2005 and 6 percent this year.
The international application rate is about even with the 2002 level right now, Rea said.
Despite variation in international applications in the past few years, international matriculation rates for graduate students at Penn have remained steady.
Office of International Programs Interim Director Sheila Gaarder said there has not been any significant decline in the number of international students enrolling since Sept. 11.
The Institute of International Education ranked Penn as the university with the 14th highest number of international students -- both undergraduate and graduate -- in the 2004-2005 academic year. Columbia University was the only Ivy League school with more international students.
