A closer look at Elon’s international population
by Josh Markowitz and Isabella Broggini
Increasing international presence
When Elon started its current strategic plan in 2010, the university stated it had a goal to triple the number of international students (those holding non-immigrant visas) by 2020. While the goal has not yet been reached, Elon is a little over halfway towards meeting the goal.
According to François Masuka, director of international students, faculty and scholar services, Elon is up to 120 students here on visas (there are over 100 other students here with dual citizenship). With 51 more international students needed to meet Elon’s goal, the university has begun to recruit more extensively outside the country.
One and a half years ago, Elon hired Mandy Herrera, a class of 2010 graduate, to serve as the assistant director of international admissions. Previously, there had only been one counselor dedicated to recruiting international students and that person also had to serve a territory within the United States. “That’s a lot of pressure for one person,” Masuka said.
With the hiring of Herrera, Elon is focusing on expanding its recruiting efforts to countries with emerging markets. “We have started to focus more on China, India, and Brazil, where research shows an upward trend in students coming to the U.S. for college,” she said.
In addition to targeting a broader range of countries, Elon is beginning to recruit different types of schools abroad. In the past Herrera said Elon would target “American” or “International” schools, but over the past year they have now started targeting “National” schools. Although Elon used to only focus on recruiting students that attended English speaking schools, in these “National” schools English may not necessarily be the language classes are taught in.
As Elon continues to work towards tripling the international population, admissions is focusing on implementing new strategies to attract students. “We are covering more ground, boosting and personalizing our communication flow to our international population, and thinking of more innovative and effective ways to connect with students,” Herrera said.
While Masuka believes the increased dedication to international recruitment has helped the university and students, he said that the university’s brand and location can hold it back at times internationally. Though Elon’s reputation in the United States has steadily increased to the point where it has been named the top master’s level university in the South by U.S. News and World Report for three straight years, its status as a relative newcomer has not created the name recognition abroad that older elite institutions enjoy.
“Not many people overseas know where Elon, North Carolina is, so many people who are looking to come to the United States are thinking about New York or they’re thinking about California or Boston, so it is a challenge that North Carolina and in particular Elon is not a known quantity in most places around the world,” said Woody Pelton, Elon’s dean of global education.
A less known brand hurts the school because it is often an important factor in the international community. “In many countries, name recognition and rankings are very important to them. A lot of what we do [as admissions officers] is explain the value of a liberal arts education to them, as well at the U.S. higher education system in general, which often is a foreign concept to them,” Herrera said.
In addition, Elon’s cost can be a prohibitive factor when admitting international students. Non-US citizens are not eligible for financial aid such as US based scholarships and Herrera says she has plenty of qualified and interested students that are unable to attend the school for financial reasons.
Without a strong endowment in comparison to many of its peer institutions, Elon is behind when it comes to attracting a socioeconomically diverse crop of foreign students. “Currently there is not much scholarship money directed towards international students, so that’s a challenge. Some of our peer and aspirant institutions have more scholarship money that can be offered to incoming international students. We are limited in the dollars we have available, but we have some available,” Pelton said.
Masuka also notices these financial problems but says there is a larger issue at play. “The cost is there, but the competition is also there. We have Duke. We have Wake Forest. We have UNC–Chapel Hill. We lose students to them. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to lose them. They might have a friend at Duke.”
Transitioning to America
Once an international student decides they want to study at Elon there are several steps they must take that domestic students do not have to before arriving on campus. Non-English speakers must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) before they can be admitted. Senior Raphael Higuet, who came to Elon from Belgium, said this was one of the most frustrating parts of his admissions process. “My English wasn’t that great when I came here, so it was a tough part,” he said.
After non-citizens are accepted to Elon, they must go through the process of obtaining an F-1 student (unless they are here on exchange in which case they would get a J-1 visa) visa because the school cannot issue the required documents until after admission is offered. Masuka says the most difficult part of this process is the student wishing to study in the United States must prove they do not intend to abandon their home country. His office must keep a copy of all international students passports because it is the official document used when dealing with visa issues.
When all the extra admissions hurdles have been cleared, Elon works to get international students on campus before the rest of the student body. The university holds international orientation starting on the Tuesday before classes begin, whereas new domestic students do not arrive on campus for orientation until that Friday. “International students have to come before general orientation so we can explain to them what it is like here,” Masuka said.
Pelton says one of the major things this orientation talks about is the difference in education systems between the US and other countries. General education requirements are quite different in other countries and access to professors is not often as open as it is here. “They may not be as aware of the US educational environment and system…so they need a little bit of help understanding the general ed requirements,” he said.
Many students who come from overseas also do not have the necessary means for day to day life in America so the international orientation helps ensure they have what they need to be prepared to live away from their parents. In addition to helping explain the different expectations of the American education system, Masuka says international orientation is used to help students know where to get the food they need and set up things like bank accounts.
Once international students have completed their separate orientation, they go on to general new student orientation which further explains life at Elon. “We think the repetition of some of the things we talk about will come from our colleagues in new student orientations,” Masuka said.
Life at Elon and beyond
After international students have settled on campus, Masuka’s office offers general support to them. “When they have trouble adjusting I provide support, when there are immigration issues, I provide support,” Masuka said.
He will take international students to the hospital when they are sick because transportation is often one of the biggest issues they face. Elon’s location away from public transit makes it difficult for international students, many of whom come from countries with advanced mass transit systems. “They are surprised they can’t just walk to the corner and catch a bus,” Pelton said.
Masuka’s office also organizes events for international students such as meeting members of the local community and traveling to things such as the International Festival of Raleigh. He estimates that 70 to 80 percent of international students participate in these programs in some way, but he would like that number to be higher. “My goal is to make this 100 percent. Will I get there, realistically no, but I want the students to know the resources are here. They already paid for them,” he said.
Elon also has a program called Phoenix Pals that Masuka advises that pairs international students with domestic students they can reach out to about adjusting to life in the United States. Club president junior Dawson Nance said Phoenix Pals is currently on hiatus for the fall semester in order to revamp the organization in hopes of attracting more students to the program.
As international students spend more time on campus they may get more comfortable, but they lack some of the opportunities that domestic students enjoy. Because they are here on student visas, they are not allowed to take internships that do not give them credit which limits their opportunities to build a resume. International students can work on campus, but they are limited to 20 hours a week while classes are in session.
Once a student on a visa graduates they can stay in the United States for 12 months through a program called optional practical training. This allows international students to gain work experience though the program has specific requirements. “ It has to be in your field of study. If you are in business you can’t get a job at McDonalds,” Masuka said.
With the work limitations of student visas, this can be invaluable experience. “Many international students have never worked and they need something to put on their resume for when they graduate,” Masuka said.
Elon has increased its efforts to make international students aware of this program to good results. “Many students take advantage of that one year to stay and work in the United States to get that experience and to get that on their resume,” Pelton said.
Once a person completes optional practical training, they are faced with several options. They can go to grad school and remain a student, find an employer willing to sponsor them for a work visa or leave the United States and return home. If the person decides to return home they are allowed 60 days for leisure of their choosing before they must leave.
Even if international students cannot remain in the United States, Masuka wants to make sure Elon has left its mark on them. “We want them to know the country they got the education from. When they go back home if they have a chance to be in a position of power we want them to know,” he said.
