International enrollment ranked 11th

Despite a downward national trend, UB continues to increase its international enrollment, and according to one recent report, the school is now ranked 11th in the country among nearly 3,000 accredited universities.

The report on international academic mobility placed UB four spots higher than last year's ranking at 15th.

Daniel Obst, director of the Institute of International Education, said UB hosted the third highest number of international students in the state last year with 3,965, a figure that places UB within the nation's top schools.

Only Columbia University, with 5,278, and New York University, with 5,140, had more international students in New York.

"It is particularly noteworthy that the number of foreign students is up by eight percent at UB, since nationwide international student enrollments are down slightly," he said. "It shows that UB continues to be a popular institution among international students and highlights UB's dedication to internationalizing the campus and keeping doors open to students from around the world."

According to Steven Shaw, director of International Admissions and vice provost for International Education, international students make their decisions based on the quality of programs and the cost value.

"International students look at the academic quality and the cost value of the program," he said. "UB has better name recognition overseas than it has in the U.S."

International Admissions has a team of four to five staff members who are recruiters overseas, working closely with foreign colleges to spread UB's message and reputation, Shaw said.

In turn, the influx of international students has helped build UB's prestige.

"It is a black and white fact that SAT scores and high school GPAs are increasing for the freshmen class, and that increases UB's rank and prestige," Shaw said.

By enrolling international students, UB has become a much more diverse campus, and students say they are glad to have the variety.

" I am living on South Campus which has many international students, and my experience with living with them has opened my eyes to many other cultures," said Jessica Turner, a sophomore nursing major. "I think that it is a great thing to have so many international students coming to UB because it brings a good diverse feeling to the university."

Ancy Alexander, a sophomore mechanical engineering major and transfer student from India, said he chose UB because of the vast course curriculum.

"Amongst all the universities, UB gave me the most number of choices and transfer credit which will help me finish my courses earlier because now I won't have to repeat the courses which I already took before," he said.

Another reason international students choose UB is simply because of its high academic standing in many majors and its cultural acceptance.

"It is a fact that UB is the perfect school for engineering, architecture and computer science. The education curriculum at UB is so much affordable and also UB has a huge number of transfer students are from India," said Atish Saha, a freshman computer science major. "UB has many international students from different backgrounds which makes me glad, because I can get a feeling which is similar to home if I see my international friends."