U.S. Colleges Urged To Improve Access For Disadvantaged International Students, Particularly Africans

U.S. colleges are beginning to reverse the decline in international student enrollment that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But the key to future growth may be the ability to attract lower-income and disadvantaged foreign students, including those from Africa, …………………………….

A top U.S. priority must be to “provide educational opportunities to a broad and diverse segment of young people overseas, including women, minorities and those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds,” said Thomas Farrell, assistant secretary of state for academic programs. Many of these students want to study in the United States but lack the resources to do so, he told a joint meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House higher education subcommittee.

One major factor is the high cost of U.S. higher education, which is more expensive than college in other industrialized countries. “We believe that cost of U.S. higher education is the most significant barrier to building back our higher education international student numbers,” Farrell said.[View Full Article]