A higher number of students from around the world, especially from China and India, have enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison over the past five years, as the school continues to gain international recognition.
But such trends are not unique to UW-Madison, as indicated by the 2012 Open Doors Report, which documented trends in international education exchange with an emphasis on international students studying in the U.S. over the past year.
The national trends described in the report released Nov. 12 by the Institute of International Education, a non-profit cultural education exchange and training program, are parallel to international student rates at UW-Madison, according to Assistant Dean and Director of International Student Services Laurie Cox.
The results included an increase in the number of students attending U.S. institutions from China both nationally and at UW-Madison. According to Cox, this is a fairly new trend as up until five years ago, most of the international students on campus were from South Korea.
“The number one sending country to UW-Madison was South Korea, but that has changed substantially to China,” Cox said. “And I would say… for many, many years, South Korea was the number one sending country, so that is a major shift.”
Cox attributed the increase in Chinese students to the numerous visits to China by former Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin and Chancellor David Ward to increase the country’s familiarity with UW-Madison.
She also said exchange programs involving world and Olympic champions from China studying Kinesiology at the university have helped to create interest among students in China.
Additionally, the report found considerable increases in the number of students from India on U.S. campuses. India has the third highest number of international students who apply to UW-Madison, according to Vice Provost for the Division of Enrollment Management Joanne Berg.
Cox also said UW-Madison differs from the national trends in the increased presence of Malaysian students on campus. She said this substantial population makes UW-Madison “unique” among peer institutions.
Another major shift shown in the Open Doors report is a large increase in the number of undergraduate international students. Historically, most international students were graduate students.
UW-Madison is experiencing similar circumstances, seeing the most undergraduate students in several years, according to Berg.
UW-Madison makes an effort to attract international students to create opportunities for the university to have a diverse campus to prepare them for working with different kinds of people in the future, according to Berg.
“The real reason is to have a diversity on this campus that in a sense mirrors the world so that as a student you experience a whole bunch of different kinds of people so that when you go out into the world, and you’re working, that you will have experienced people from all parts of the world,” Berg said.
