By Diane CarrollKnight Ridder Newspapers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The war on terrorism appears to be deterringyoung people from Islamic countries from studying in the UnitedStates, according to national figures released this week.
The number of Middle East students attending colleges anduniversities fell 10 percent last fall, the Institute ofInternational Education reported Monday.
In addition, more than one-fourth of 276 educational institutionssurveyed last month reported significant declines this fall in newstudents from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
The findings are predictable, educators say, given the crackdownat U.S. borders since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But they also area concern, the educators say, because the United States should bebuilding bridges with those countries instead of pushing them away.
“I think the United States has sent out a message, intentionallyor unintentionally, to students from certain parts of the world thatthey are not as welcome as they used to be, and that is veryunfortunate,” said Joe Potts, director of international student andscholar services at the University of Kansas.
Overall, the Institute of International Education’s annual OpenDoors survey showed that the number of international studentsstudying in the United States slowed to a 0.6 percent increase lastfall, compared with fall 2001. It was the smallest increase since1995-96.
Strong increases in students from India, Korea and Kenya offsetsignificant decreases from the Middle East, Indonesia, Thailand andMalaysia, said Peggy Blumenthal, the institute’s vice president foreducational services.
The decreases are blamed on the federal government’s new visaapplication process, a sluggish world economy and increasedcompetition for students from countries such as the United Kingdomand Australia, Blumenthal said.
Last year was the first year potential students faced stepped-upscreening, Blumenthal said. Because several Sept. 11 hijackersentered the United States on student visas, the U.S. governmentinitiated more one-on-one interviews with potential students andconducted more thorough background checks.
“A lot of students may have just decided not to apply or tried toapply and gotten caught up in delays or felt uncomfortable … interms of how people would feel about having them on campus,”Blumenthal said.
Potential international students probably continued to feeluncertain this fall, Blumenthal said, knowing the U.S. government wasimplementing a new computerized student tracking system.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System requiredcolleges and universities to put all data on international studentsin a central computer database by Aug. 1. Federal authorities can tapinto that database at any time.
Potts said a federal procedure called Special Registration couldbe keeping some students away.
The procedure requires international students from selectedcountries – mostly Muslim nations – to be photographed andfingerprinted by immigration officials. Each time they leave or enterthe United States they must be photographed and fingerprinted again.They also are restricted to using certain airports.
“It is the kind of thing that creates a feeling of resentmentamong students,” Potts said.
Ariful Huq, president of the University of Kansas’ student Muslimorganization, said he had no problems when he registered last winterwith an Immigration and Naturalization Service office in Kansas City.He can accept the new security requirements, he said, as long asauthorities treat him fairly and with respect.
Huq, a 21-year-old junior from Malaysia, said Muslim students hadmixed feelings about the new requirements. Many are afraid to go homefor a visit, he said.
He would like to go home, but his parents don’t think he should.
“My dad was like, ‘No, you are not coming back. You can’t take abreak. What if you cannot come back in the (United States)?'”
