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Published on: 6/23/2008
Last Visited: 6/24/2008
Adjusting to a new lifestyle is just one of many challenges facing international students who attend one of the many universities dotting the Greater New Haven landscape, says Joseph Spellman, director of international admissions at UNH.
Currently about nine percent of UNH's total enrollment, or 390 students, are international students, he says.They come from more than 45 countries, predominantly Asian.
'There is always a desire to come to the United States for education in many parts of the world,' he says. 'We're getting the largest number from Asia at this point, because the economies are doing well in that region right now.'
While India sends the largest single number of students to UNH, China is gaining rapidly, Spellman says.
'Previously it wasn't very easy for Chinese students to get visas, then three years ago the U.S. government started increasing the number of visas issued to that country,' Spellman explains.As a country's economy improves, more visas are issued because the U.S. government can be more confident that the students will be able to return to their home countries and find work available, he says.
Since Spellman visited China three years ago, UNH has seen its Chinese student population increase from near zero to 35 students.He is also seeing a strong surge in visas issued to students from Vietnam, which has seen its economy improve markedly in recent years.
Spellman says UNH and other universities actively recruit international students because their presence benefits the entire student body.
'It helps our students get a better picture of the world by meeting students from other cultures,' he says. 'They get a whole different perspective.
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Spellman says he regularly travels overseas to attend university fairs and consultant fairs, and he also speaks at high schools abroad.
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