Among 2,700 accredited United States universities that accept international enrollment, the University at Buffalo has moved up to number ten in an annual report released by the Institute of International Education.
The 2006 ranking states that UB has 4,072 international students are enrolled amongst the total student population of 27,220. This is an increase of 2.7 percent from 2005. According to the report, UB is currently ranked highest in terms of the percentage of total enrollment that is international.
UB President John B. Simpson credits the steady increase of international students to the University's reputation overseas, along with UB's continued presence as one of the most globalized public institutions in the United States.
"Higher education institutions throughout the world have a special responsibility to educate students who are globally aware and culturally fluent," said Simpson. "As a public research university serving a truly global community, UB takes this responsibility very seriously."
With the international population making up roughly 15 percent of the student body of UB, students like Anajit Garajian, a biopsychology major from New Delhi, feel this makes the transition of coming from another country much easier.
"Even though I was pretty comfortable with the English language, I was very happy to learn that there were many students from my homeland of India," Garajian said. "I was able to get acclimated to life at UB very quickly because of this."
Professor Stephen Dunnett, vice provost for international education, said that the international recruitment strategies are a very important reason to the increase in international enrollment.
"Even under tougher VISA registrations, UB's international enrollment continues to expand more and more because of our management staff," Dunnett said. "We have worked hard to seek out and recruit high quality, self-funded students from many countries around the world."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
