Last modified: Monday, September 17, 2012
Another record year for international student enrollment reported at Indiana University
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 17, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For the eighth year in a row, Indiana University is reporting record enrollment of international students -- particularly at its IU Bloomington and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campuses -- and is maintaining its leading role as an institution that is international in scope.
There are 7,785 international students enrolled on all IU campuses this semester, an increase of 70 percent since 2005.
At IU Bloomington, 5,941 international students are enrolled, an increase of 4.6 percent over last year, when the Institute for International Education ranked the campus 11th in this category in its Open Doors report on more than 1,200 U.S. universities. IUPUI enrolled 1,610 international students, an increase of 11 percent over last year.
"IU's international strategic plan places a high value on the presence of students from all over the world as one of the foundations of a university that teaches a global perspective and conducts research representing the cooperative efforts of scholars around the world," said David Zaret, vice president for international affairs.
"IU's success in attracting increasing numbers of top students from around the world indicates that we are achieving and exceeding the goals that we set out to accomplish."
While internationalization has been a priority at IU for decades, IU President Michael A. McRobbie has renewed the university's commitment to expanding IU's reach worldwide. In addition to increasing the number of international students on campus, IU is striving to direct even more students to study abroad, another area where IU also is a national leader (ranking eighth in the Open Doors report and recognized by U.S. News & World Report).
Most of the increase in international student enrollment at IU Bloomington has been at the undergraduate level. At IUPUI, the increase has been at all academic levels.
The most popular majors reflect international trends. Enrollment at the Kelley School of Business accounted for more than a third of Bloomington's international enrollment and about a fifth of IUPUI's. Engineering and the life sciences each accounted for 22 percent of IUPUI's international enrollment.
The largest percentage of international students continues to come from East Asia -- 48 percent of Bloomington international students and 24 percent of IUPUI international students come from China. South Korea and India rank next for Bloomington, with a total of 26 percent. At IUPUI, India ranks second with 21 percent of all international students.
While all major world regions are represented among IU's international student population, staff in the Office of the Vice President for International Affairs are actively recruiting in approximately 25 countries with the goal of increasing the overall diversity of the international student population and promoting the benefits of an IU education to the world's most gifted students.
IU also is seeking greater institutional cooperation with leading schools outside the United States and stronger ties with its international alums. McRobbie and Zaret have traveled extensively to India, Korea and other countries. They most recently visited Southeast Asia and signed agreements with National University of Singapore and Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia.
The recently announced new School of Global and International Studies is expected to play an integral role in all of these efforts and help all IU students be better prepared for the global marketplace after graduation.
