Barriers Facing International Students Applying to US Colleges and Universities
By admin. Filed in College University |
According to a study supported by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the number of new international students studying in the states increased by over 8% during the most recent school year. There are now close to 600,000 students from other countries studying in the U.S., and nearly all of the 3,000 plus institutions have an international student population. As a result, competition among these students is increasing.
The application process can be overwhelming to anyone that is applying to schools. International students face added difficulties and stress factors beyond that of their U.S. peers. They may come from an area where mail service is expensive, slow, and unreliable. Application fees may need to be paid in a form that is unavailable to them and their families in their home countries. Coming from a different educational system, international applicants also often have to independently navigate strange vocabulary and terms on applications, school websites, and other admissions materials.
Though the College Board is continuing to increase the offering of entrance exams such as the SAT and GRE all over the globe, for students outside of major cities, access to testing is also a large area that needs improvement. Compounding this issue is that international students have a hard time selecting and registering for appropriate tests and have limited access to preparation materials.
Universities are recognizing the importance of helping these applicants. However, there is still a great need to streamline the process so that more students around the world can have access to the great higher education institutions the U.S. has to offer. Traditionally, international students have come from large foreign cities and from college prep schools that have trained international college counselors. Today, more and more students are coming from smaller schools and more remote areas and would benefit from services that help them with the application process. An increase in international students studying at U.S. universities is a positive step towards increasing global economies and global understanding. We must work to remove barriers and encourage students to apply and attend colleges and universities, both in their home countries and abroad.
Ronald Burt is a consultant for International Apply [http://www.internationalapply.com] – an online organization dedicated to serving the unique needs of international students applying to colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.
He is a member of the Higher Education Consultants Association. For more information about services offered, please visit InternationalApply.com [http://www.internationalapply.com]
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