The International Institute for Education (IIE) reported a two percent national decline in international applications to U.S. colleges and universities, but Tufts seems to be bucking this trend.
Many experts suspect the nationwide decrease results from the government's tightened regulations on the entry of non-citizens into the United States since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
But at Tufts, "we've maintained, if not slightly increased, our numbers of non-U.S. residents" since Sept. 11, according to the University's Director of International and Transfer Admissions Leon Braswell.
There were 56 more undergraduate international applications for the class of 2008 than for the class of 2007, bringing the number up to 1,159.
Braswell said "Tufts' reputation of being global" attracts foreign students, as do recruiting visits to Europe, South America and the Middle East. Students in these locations "know Tufts, and that has been a benefit," he said.
But Tufts is not immune to the effects of the United States' tightened borders and heightened security measures. "If there continues to be security delays and visa-issuing problems, we will be impacted," Director of the International Office Jane Etish-Andrews said. "Compared to other schools nationally we're still in a good position, but we too can be vulnerable."
At the Fletcher School, the number of international applications dropped by 200 from last year, according to Gretchen Inman, administrative director of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
"We're watching it, but we've had such a large pool [of international applicants in the past few years] that so far it hasn't had a negative impact on our enrollment," Inman said.
But Inman warned that the number of Fletcher's international applications "could continue to go down. We seem to have a cushion right now unless there's a real dramatic decline this year."
Numbers for applications to Tufts' undergraduate and Fletcher schools for the 2005-06 academic year will be available in early February.
Since Sept. 11, the U.S. government has implemented a number of tracking mechanisms for foreign students that have complicated their entry into the United States. The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a computer database that tracks all international students, was enacted in February 2003, for example.
Additionally, international students applying to study math or science must receive clearance from both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency.
At Tufts, the International Center helps students navigate through these government regulations and verifies that the information they submit is correct, according to Etish-Andrews.
"If they change their major, or drop below full-time status, then we have to determine whether or not to submit it to SEVIS," she said.
International students on leave from their studies must receive approval from the federal government, and those on leave for medical reasons cannot be treated outside the United States without express permission.
These regulations have caused difficulties and delays for some Tufts students in getting student visas and security clearance.
"People from certain countries with Muslim backgrounds, especially men, [experience] delays getting visas," Etish-Andrews said. But delays have been shorter over the past six months, she said.
Undergraduate students generally experience "fewer difficulties [than graduate students] at the level they're studying, because consort offices don't look at them as intending immigrants all the time," Etish-Andrews said.
International students' perception that visas are too difficult to obtain may have deterred those who would have otherwise applied, according to The New York Times.
Sophomore Debora Kryss from Sao Paulo, Brazil said the paper bureaucracy was not the problem - rather, the real deterrent is the growing feeling around the world that Americans have closed themselves off to immigration since Sept. 11, 2001.
"The visa process is just a reflection of this anti-American sentiment, and the perception that Americans are becoming more closed [to other nations]," Kryss said.
"If we don't make [coming to the United States] easier for individuals, we are going to lose one of the most important imports to our economy, which is bringing international students here to study," Etish-Andrews said. "Not only financially, but academically, we're bringing in people who contribute a lot, who then go back and home and contribute there, too."
Another obstacle for foreign nationals wishing to study in the United States is the lack of financial aid. At Tufts, Braswell said a small amount of aid is given to "literally a handful of international students; the problem is that they can't have access to grants and loans from the government. That's one of the reasons why we're not able to do the kind of funding that we would like to."
Tufts is working to ease foreign students' financial woes through partnerships like last month's agreement with the Mexican government to sponsor Mexican students pursuing doctoral degrees at the University. (See box.)
Tufts is also working on other ways to attract international students. The University Board of Overseers sponsors trips to increase interest of both alumni and prospective students around the world.
Braswell said a representative from undergraduate admissions visited the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon this year as part of Tufts' "intention to maintain a presence there by visiting schools in those countries."
"I think it's important to let people know that Tufts, as well as the U.S., is a welcoming place even despite what's happening in terms of the government with background checks," Braswell said.<$>
