NEWS

Corvallis sees fastest growth in foreign students

Queenie Wong
Statesman Journal

The number of foreign students in Corvallis grew faster than other U.S metro areas from 2008 to 2012, according to a report released by the Brookings Institution.

Corvallis, which is home to Oregon State University, also ranked fourth among 118 U.S. metro areas for having a high proportion of students from other countries.

The Washington, D.C. think tank looked at metro areas with a large number of F-1 visa approvals. Salem was not included in the analysis because the number of foreign students pursuing a bachelor's degree or higher wasn't large enough.

F-1 visas allow international students to attend school full-time in the United States. It's the most common type of visa that foreign students use.

In Corvallis, the number of students on F-1 visas grew by 203 percent from 286 to 867. That's faster than any other U.S. metro area included in the data analysis followed by Dayton, Ohio; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Louisville, Kentucky and Eugene.

Corvallis had 62.6 foreign students per 1,000 total students, which is more common in smaller metropolitan areas.

OSU officials said the college experienced a large uptick in the number of foreign students after they partnered with INTO University Partnerships in 2008, a U.K. company that has recruiters worldwide. The company partners with universities in the United States, United Kingdom and China, helping them to increase their international student population.

"A global experience is absolutely critical for our graduates to be prepared for a lifetime of not only career paths, but social issues," said Kate Peterson, OSU's assistant provost for enrollment management. "We felt like that was an area that we needed to do better on."

INTO Oregon State University includes "pathway" programs that help foreign students improve their English and academic study skills. The students are then able to enter undergraduate or graduate programs at the university.

The pathway program is one of the reasons that student Shali Lan from China, who is majoring in accounting and business information systems chose to attend OSU.

"People out here are really friendly," she said. "Even if it's the first time you come here and you don't know how to speak English, they'll help you."

Most of the university's international students are from China followed by Saudi Arabia, South Korea, India and Kuwait, according to the report.

Rachael Weber, Interim Director of OSU's International Student Advising and Services, said that international students choose to come to the university for various reasons.

They might have met a professor abroad, have friends in the United States, are attracted to a particular program or even like the location of the college.

"For undergrads, Corvallis is listed as one of the greenest and safest cities so that's appealing to folks," Weber said.

From 2008 to 2012, foreign students in Corvallis paid $55.2 million in tuition and $23.3 million in living costs.

Foreign students on F-1 visas are also allowed to work full-time in the United States after graduation as part of the Optional Practical Training Program.

Most of these OSU students, about 74 percent, did not stay in Corvallis.

With the major employer in the city being the university and engineering being the most popular major for foreign students, that doesn't come as a surprise to OSU officials.

"You can't compete with places with places like Portland, the San Francisco area or Seattle," Weber said. "There are clearly places that have more jobs."

qwong@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6694 or follow at Twitter.com/QWongSJ.

International Students in Salem-area colleges

Here are the number of students in the Salem area who are currently on F-1 visas:

Western Oregon University: 291 (does not include fall term 2014)

Willamette University: 250

Corban University: N/A

Source: WOU, Willamette

Foreign Student Population in Oregon (2008-2012)

There were three metro areas in Oregon included in the Brookings report.

Corvallis: 2,731

Eugene-Springfield: 4,637

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro: 4,930

Source: The Geography of Foreign Students in U.S. Higher Education: Origins and Destinations