VCU student Mishaal Alromaih
loves going to nightclubs and attending
unisex classes.
However, he didn’t enjoy this
lifestyle in his native country of Saudi
Arabia.
A freshman finance major, Alromaih
instantly accepted an admissions
offer to VCU two years ago when
Robert Wood, associate director of
International Student Recruitment at
VCU, extended an offer for the Saudi
Arabian to come to VCU during a visit
to Alromaih’s high school.
“I just . filled out my application
and gave it to him (Wood) and it
was done,” Alromaih said. “It was
easy (and) they even got our visas
for us.”
Ian P. Little, director of International
Student Recruitment, said VCU
hopes to bring in more students from
the Middle East and other regions
across the globe.
“We can turn around undergraduate
applications in under a week. If
someone applies, say, Monday, we
can let them know by Wednesday
and have their paperwork Fed-Exed
to them by Saturday,” Little said.
VCU plans to have international
students account for 10 percent of its
student body (spring 2008 enrollment
was 31,512) by the year 2020 to further
diversify the university’s overall
student population, Little said. Higher
education is the United States’ No. 1
export; this past year, international
students brought $252 million to the
local economy, Little said.
“We currently have students from
over 116 countries,” Little said. “We
believe that the interaction of students
from different backgrounds provides
for learning experiences, which are
beneficial to all involved.”
Saud Algahtani, an engineering
major from Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
said he is happy he decided to
attend VCU.
“I heard about here from my
cousin,” Algahtani said. “He said, ‘You
have to come,’ so I did. I’m so glad that
I did . I’ve learned so much.”
The International Student Recruitment
department concluded
on-ground recruiting in 21 nations in
the past year, recently established a
full-time position in China and plans
to station some positions in India.
“I’m on my fourth set of passport
pages,” Wood said.
Wood spends 48 hours in each
country he visits, recruiting students
from high schools, universities and
recruiting fairs, which are sponsored
by private companies. Wood circles
the globe in six weeks’ time.
VCU encourages international
students to apply to graduate or
undergraduate programs, or to a
one-year English program. However,
applications are turned down every
day, Little said. There is stiff competition
for the 2,000 to 3,000 student
visas issued every year.
“Now, schools that didn’t used
to have to compete for top students
– like Penn State and Purdue – have
started recruiting to keep up with
VCU,” Wood said.
VCU also has launched dual-degree
programs at 15 universities worldwide,
which allows for shared resources and
the exchange of students and professors
and provides 15 destinations for
VCU students to study abroad.