The number of first-year international students has decreased this fall, in contrast to past trends.
By Naomi Hofferber
An inexplicable decrease in the number of first-year international students has occurred this fall at the University of Iowa.
In 2015, the UI had 615 first-year international students enroll for the fall semester; this year, the UI has only 425 first-year international students. The previous three years saw a consistent increase in first-year international-student enrollment, according to the Student Profile by the Registrar’s Office.
UI Associate Provost Downing Thomas, the dean of International Programs, said he does not know why this is.
“We may only know when we see next year’s numbers,” he said. “It may be a blip.”
The number of students has fluctuated between the 2011, 2012, and 2013 fall semesters, but it has been on an upward trend since 2006’s freshman international student class of 30 students.
Thomas said that although international students add to the richness of the UI culture, officials aren’t actively trying to increase their numbers.
“I don’t think there’s any great urgency to grow the incoming classes more than what there already is,” Thomas said.
Students from around the world choose the UI for various reasons. UI student Ayla Mohd said it was a combination of her father’s experience here and to get out of her comfort zone and meet new people.
“One of the reasons was my father went here for his master’s degree,” Mohd said. “A lot of my friends went to Iowa State.”
Mohd, a junior originally from Malaysia, applied to numerous schools before deciding on the UI. The climate of Iowa influenced her decision to move here.
“Even though Malaysia is a tropical country, I wanted to experience snow,” Mohd said.
Mohd said her major of computer science also affected her decision.
“There is increased competition for students around the country with our Big Ten schools,” Thomas said. “Admissions recruits internationally, similarly to that in Iowa and around the country.”
Qiqi Shi, a senior on the UI International Student Advisory Board, said she believes the presence of international students at the UI is beneficial.
“The more international students, the more open-minded students will be because of different perspectives,” Shi said. “Having more students is good for the campus environment.”
The International Student Advisory Board was created by the UI Student Government “to serve as a channel for increasing domestic-international student interactions and improving international students’ experiences at the University of Iowa while functioning as a joint committee of both the graduate and undergraduate student governments,” according the UISG website.
Thomas said it’s important to have “a strong diverse mix of international students.”
