Nawaf Abolola, known as “Nino” at Ohio University, spent his life traveling the world with his cousin Hassan.
They went to school around the world — middle school in France, high school in England — before going to Florida for the first two years of their undergraduate degrees. When Abolola and his cousin came to Athens, however, he said it was a big adjustment to go from a big area to a small college town.
“We started in Florida, then we finished two years and moved up here to Athens," Abolola, who is a senior studying pre-med and the international affairs commissioner for Student Senate, said. "Honestly, the transition from one country to another was easier than transitioning from Florida to Athens.”
Hassan didn’t like the move, and he ended up returning to Florida.
“He said, ‘this is too cold, too small, and I just don’t like it here,’ ” Abolola said.
Abolola’s cousin is one international student who chose to leave the university. International student enrollment as a whole has decreased over the past year. In Fall Semester 2015, there were roughly 1,700 international students on campus. That number decreased to about 1,500 students on campus during Fall Semester 2016, the biggest drop in the past five years, according to university records.
“We are continuing our analysis related to our changing enrollments for international students,” Craig Cornell, senior vice provost for Strategic Enrollment Management, said in an email. “We are seeing that changing economics in the countries that send us the largest number of students, increased competition and a need for a more proactive marketing effort overseas were all instrumental in our decline in enrollments this past fall.”
Hashim Pashtun, the president of the International Student Union, said he is not sure why international student enrollment would have decreased over the past year. He thinks one reason could be the requirement to live on-campus for two years.
“Maybe (it's) the mandatory residential hall for freshmen and sophomore undergrad international students because they don't feel comfortable with that, and they prefer to live in (an) apartment, which is cheaper and has more amenities,” he said in an email.
Additionally, Pashtun thinks having more involvement with international alumni could help enrollment. He thinks alumni promoting OU in their countries would result in more people around the world becoming interested in the university.
Abolola said he thinks the alumni tradition is a “very, very big factor” in recruiting international students to come to OU.
“Alumni are one of our strongest assets here at the university,” he said. “We’re working on utilizing that with a global strategy.”
Since international student enrollment has decreased, many wonder how the current political environment will continue to affect enrollment. Pashtun said that could not only be a problem at OU but also throughout the U.S.
“In this case, I think our diverse community, Ohio University's commitment towards diversity and inclusion, and how Athens City is liberal and welcoming to international students can play a vital role, to prove to the international student population that Ohio University is still a good option for studies,” Pashtun said in an email.
Despite a decrease in enrollment, Abolola said he thinks the international student community on campus is strong and close to one another.
“I think because of this place being a college town, the international community is way, way closer,” he said. “I was the vice president for the international student association down in Florida, and it was never this close or coherent. (Athens is) a very, very strong community.”
