International Enrollment at YSU Among Country’s Fastest-Growing
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The international-student body at Youngstown State University is the second-fastest growing in the country, according to the Institute of International Education’s latest Open Doors report.
In the fall 2018 semester, YSU had 581 international students, up from 336 in the 2014 school year.
The Open Doors report compared the fall 2016 and fall 2017 semesters, when the population at Youngstown State increased to 546 from 363, a 50% climb. The increase was behind only the City University of New York’s Hunter College, which grew 62%.
About a third of international students at YSU hail from the Middle East, most of whom are from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and great attention has been paid to recruiting students from Nepal. Today, about 75 YSU students are Nepalese, compared to just a handful three years ago, reported Nate Myers, associate provost for international and global initiatives.
The university is also focusing on drawing in students from Vietnam, India and several South American countries.
“Probably more important is the rich diversity and experiential element that overseas students bring to YSU and the community,” he said in a release. “Just like you can’t imagine a great university without vibrant performing arts or student activities, it is really hard to imagine a great university that doesn’t have a significant and diverse international student body. I think YSU is on a trajectory to excellence in many, many ways. International will continue to be one of those marks of excellence.”
The growth in the international-student body stems from the international recruitment and scholarship strategy the university enacted in 2016, Myers added.
“At that time the administration determined that, in order to grow, there were some things that YSU needed to start doing which, prior to that had not been done with any degree of regularity,” he said. “In many of our important overseas markets, YSU is developing a broad reputation for offering quality programs at an affordable price.”
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
