Foreigners diversify face of BU

School sees record results from overseas recruiting

Lamb tikka masala, pork pot stickers, and halal-certified meals have cropped up on dining hall menus. Cable channels stream soap operas, sports, and news in Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, and Italian into dorm rooms. Students organize soccer and cricket tournaments, with teams split by nationalities.

College life along the 14-block strip on Commonwealth Avenue has been transformed in recent years by the thousands of overseas students enrolled at Boston University.

This fall, the campus - recognized as home to one of the largest international student populations in the nation - will become even more diverse.

An unprecedented number of foreign freshmen - 444 - will begin classes at BU next month, a 39 percent jump from last year, the largest increase the university has ever seen and surpassing its long-term goal for incoming students. It's a boon BU officials say they hope to sustain as they prepare for a projected dip in the number of American high school graduates in coming years.

Statewide, the number of foreign freshmen grew by an average of 2.6 percent a year between 2003 and 2006 following a sharp drop after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the most recent statistics available from the US Department of Education.

The influx at BU follows a ramp-up in the university's overseas recruitment efforts and a weakening dollar that has sent international students flocking to the United States. Even before the enrollment increase, BU had begun reexamining its "international strategy," including the possibility of extending need-based financial aid to previously ineligible international students.

"As we see their numbers go up, we want to be sure they are diverse economically," said Laurie Pohl, vice president of enrollment and student affairs. "It's a very difficult discussion because we also want to maintain a certain level of access for domestic students."

Robert Brown, BU president, met with trustees in April to discuss revamping financial aid policies as early as fall 2009 to attract even more students from abroad. He said he has begun soliciting international alumni for donations so that aid for foreign students does not detract from assistance to domestic students.

For a number of years, international students have made up about 7 percent of BU's freshmen class, compared with a national average of just over 1 percent; this school year, they will account for 11 percent - an unusually large increase compared with historical trends in American colleges, said Allan Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education in New York.

Many of the international students, at BU and other colleges, hail from China and India, countries that can't keep up with the demand of a booming middle class eager to invest in their children's education. BU's goal is to raise its undergraduate international enrollment to 10 percent within five years, Pohl said, reflecting a similar push by many private colleges across the country in hopes of offsetting an anticipated 3.5 percent drop in the number of American high school graduates by 2013 due to falling birth rates. With the jump in the number of international freshmen this year, BU projects a total undergraduate international enrollment of 7 percent, one percentage point higher than last year.

To build upon its success, the university plans to step up robust overseas recruitment efforts, she said, tapping into a stellar international reputation for a school that stands in the shadows of Harvard and MIT across the Charles River.

One of BU's biggest draws, overseas students said, is its international diversity, the assurance that a student won't be the only foreigner. Students also say BU has gone out of its way to integrate them into campus life.

"By default it gives you this very welcoming atmosphere to have all these people from different countries going through the same experiences as you," said Arsla Jawaid, a 21-year-old junior from Pakistan. "My freshman year, it really helped me settle in."

The university two years ago began holding special workshops in the fall term to help international students, who represent 133 countries, adjust to life in Boston and on an American campus.

One workshop highlights the differences and expectations in American academia. Here, for example, students are expected to participate in class, establish relationships with their professors, and cite sources used in research papers, said Jeanne Kelley, director of the International Students and Scholars Office. In some countries, students are accustomed to taking notes dutifully in large lecture halls and never questioning the professor.

University dining services also adjusted to the needs of international students, and five years ago began beefing up options reflecting their native cuisines, said Craig Hill, associate vice president for auxiliary services.

The dining staff works with the Chinese, Thai, and Indian clubs, as well as others, to organize special meals throughout the year.

International students have made their mark elsewhere on campus, expanding the world views of their American peers, said Kenneth Elmore, dean of students.

A Bangladeshi student, Shadab Mahmud, was responsible for bringing Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to campus last year. Every month Mahmud, as founder of BU's Bangladeshi Students Association, wrote letters to Yunus until the pioneer of microfinance, who comes from the same village as Mahmud, agreed to visit. His talk drew more than 2,500 students.

University officials will visit India twice this year on recruiting trips, relying heavily upon alumni to pave the way into more high schools. They will do the same in China, doubling the number of cities. And they hope to begin traveling to Korea every year instead of every two years.

The university will also evaluate its academic programs, including faculty and lab space, to determine whether it can expand enrollment in engineering, business, and physical and life sciences, the most popular majors among international students.

"If we want to sustain this level of international students over time," she said, "we have to take a look at how it feels on campus this year."

Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com.