International student enrollment at UC Davis dropped last school year, mirroring a nationwide trend.

Statistics from Graduate Studies show that newly enrolled international graduate students reached a peak of 298 in 2001, 29.4 percent of the total new graduate school enrollment. Those numbers fell to 188 and 16.1 percent just three years later.

The Institute of International Education reports that after rising steadily throughout the 1990s, international graduate student numbers have fallen over the past two years and are now below 2001 and 2002 numbers.

Visa issues

Keeping the campus open to high-caliber students from other countries is an important issue for UC Davis. At the 2004 Fall Convocation, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said, "We must work in all possible ways to change" the enrollment fall-off.

Several factors are at play, say campus officials. The most widely publicized reason is heightened security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Congress passed several laws in the aftermath of the attacks, including the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, which have hindered international scholars' efforts to get visas.

Wes Young, the director of Services for International Students and Scholars, said Middle Eastern and Chinese students suffer the most from tighter security. He cited one student who returned to China to visit a sick relative, planning on staying for only two weeks. The student ended up being stuck for months while several U.S. agencies performed background checks.

But Young said visa problems are only a small part of the picture. He also cited a lack of financial support and growing overseas competitiveness as crucial factors.

Both graduate and undergraduate students from abroad pay nonresident fees. But unlike domestic out-of-state students, Young said, international scholars cannot gain residency by settling in California. They are also ineligible for financial aid. Some of the brightest minds in the world simply cannot afford an American education, he said.

Furthermore, the U.S. faces increasing competition from other countries. Universities in Britain, Canada and Australia are pulling students away from American schools. And developing countries are stepping up their own efforts to retain their best students.

"China, which has contributed the greatest numbers of international students to our campus," said Jeff Gibeling, dean of Graduate Studies, "has embarked on an aggressive campaign to strengthen its own universities and keep graduate students in the country."

As Young put it, "In a sense, we're also competing against the countries these students come from."

Security plays other roles as well. Young said the U.S. government is reluctant to admit some Chinese students because it views their country as an economic threat. The government would prefer that some research going on at American universities stays within the U.S., he said.

"There's a concern that we're losing technology to a competitor country," said Young.

No matter which factors are influencing international graduate enrollment, the trend is troubling because of the huge impact foreign students have on the university, state, and country as whole.

For instance, international students are often teaching assistants for undergraduates and work in faculty members' labs.

Harry Cheng, a mechanical and aeronautical engineering professor, said his international students make unique contributions to his graduate group.

"International students often have different training," Cheng said, "so they bring a different mix of experiences to a project."

Their economic impact is well documented. The Association of International Educators (formerly the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors) estimated that international students and their families spent $2 billion in California during the 2004-05 academic year, and $13.29 billion nationwide. And students who become permanent residents often become successful and create jobs for domestic workers.

Then there are the intangibles.

"It's harder to measure," Young said, "but there's also the goodwill generated by international students staying in the United States and learning about U.S. culture."

Though international graduate enrollment continued to decline in 2005, that decline slowed noticeably. Gibeling expects the numbers to hold steady in 2006.

Young hopes the trend will continue its reversal. He would like to see more financial support available for international scholars, and the campus generally more welcoming to foreign students.

"Those things will probably come in small steps," he said. "But it's being talked about within higher management. They're willing to make some changes."