For many Ohio University students, home is an hour or two from college and a majority are buckeye state natives. But nearly 2,000 students hail from thousands of miles away.
For many Ohio University students, home is an hour or two from college and a majority are buckeye state natives. But nearly 2,000 students hail from thousands of miles away.
They constitute most of OU's international community, enhancing Athens' culture and diversity while generating millions of dollars for OU's bottom line.
Last academic year, the most recent data available, 1,881 international students from 114 countries attended OU. Of these, 1,054 were undergraduates and 827 were graduate students. The university estimates they netted OU $30 million in tuition dollars last year.
A large percentage of them — roughly 400 students each semester — are in the Ohio Program of Intensive English.
Lorna Jean Edmonds, vice provost for Global Affairs, said that international students are attracted to OU because of its “quality, safety and cost.” International students are also attracted to OU’s strong international community, one that Edmonds describes as “very active and engaged.”
Students around the world choose OU for many of the same reasons domestic students do: for the academic programs, campus environment and faculty, said Nick Claussen, assistant to the vice provost for Global Affairs.
“We had 920 students from China (last year), which is by far the largest number of students from any one country,” said Claussen.
Yanan Han is a Chinese international student, a senior studying finance and applied math. Although she is surrounded by many fellow Chinese students, she is the only student from her city of Jinchang.
“Attending university in another country is not easy,” Han said. “Studying is not hard, but (getting) used to a new culture is pretty hard.”
This year, tuition for international students is $19,566, while OPIE student tuition is $12,700. Tuition for an in-state student for this academic year is $10,536.
Many students attend OU through exchange programs that offer them reduced cost or free education, Claussen said.
This allows many students to pay the tuition that is offered at their home schools. For example, many colleges in Denmark and Germany are tuition free, so exchange students from there do not pay tuition to attend OU, Claussen said.
Some international students move to the U.S. with their families to attend school, while others travel alone, making several international flights throughout the year to visit home.
For Omar Kurdi, vice president of the International Student Union, “going home” is a bit more complicated than a drive to Cleveland or a flight out-of-state. From a young age, Kurdi lived in Saudi Arabia. He also spent eight years of his childhood living in Canada, and has been living in the United States for six years.
“I've been back and forth between North America and Saudi Arabia my whole life," said Kurdi, a senior studying political science and global studies. "I am not from North America, but one can argue I'm not from Saudi Arabia either."
Because some international students have trouble pinpointing the place they call home, many struggle with their identity, he said. “People reinvent themselves every few years typically,” he said. “International students do so probably more often.”
OU's culture can be a bit of a shock for some people from abroad, some international students say. Though it can be tempting to assimilate, many international students instead incorporate their cultures into OU's existing routines.
The International Student Union has dozens of member organizations international students use to connect with other students from the same country.
The union also educates domestic students about other cultures through events and programming.
Other support centers for international students also exist. Athens is home to the only Islamic Center in a 70-mile radius, and OU has an office of International Student and Faculty Services.
Krista McCallum Beatty, director of ISFS,explained that her office provides advising to international students with anything from immigration forms to transitioning into a new culture.
“We have a large group of international students and domestic students who help (new students),” Dr. McCallum Beatty said.
Maurice Ndour, a senior studying specialized studies, is from Mbour, Senegal. He came to OU last year after being recruited to play basketball. Last year, Ndour was the only undergraduate student from Senegal to attend OU.
“In Senegal, they say ‘If you don't know where you are going, you have to go back where you are from.’ I stay close to my culture by not forgetting the education that I got from there," Ndour said. "Overall, the most important thing is to not forget your values."
Even with all of the support and community offered to international students at OU, being from a different culture comes with daily challenges. Stereotypes about ethnicity, culture and religion are present on every college campus, and OU is not exempt.
“Many people assume, because I am from Saudi Arabia, one of two things: My pockets are stacked with oil money (or) I come from a pre-modern society," Kurdi said. "Because I am a Muslim, many times the stereotypes fall into the categories of violence, anger and hatred.”
“People ask me if I see lions, if everybody is poor in Africa, if I speak African, which does not exist," Ndour said.
Stereotypes like these can lead to a separation between international and domestic students, he said. OU students — both international and domestic — should have stronger relationships with each other, Beatty said.
“It’s a very diverse, very vibrant group of students,” she said. “They do a lot of good things, and in a lot of ways they reflect the overall student population.
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