The number of international students at the University of Kansas has grown by more than 100 students since Fall 2005 because of booming economies around the world.

The top five sources of enrolled international students were China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan in Spring 2008, according to KU International Student and Scholar Services.

Zexia Li, Shengcheng, China, sophomore, said he chose Kansas because of its basketball team. He said he decided to study in the United States because he thought American colleges offered a better quality of education than most Chinese colleges.

“Chinese high schools are very strict. They won’t let you have a free time,” Li said. “Once people get into college, many of them become relaxed and they don’t study much anymore. You can’t do that in the U.S.”

Daphne Johnston, associate director of International Undergraduate Admissions, said KU staff and alumni recruited many students from overseas, but international economic prosperity accounted for the majority of international student growth at KU.

Johnston said the rapid economic growth in China and India expanded their middle class wealth until the number of local institutions could not meet the demand for higher education. She said studying abroad offered another option for international students seeking higher education, particularly for China, where one-child families are prevalent and parents can focus all of their resources on one child.

ISSS director Joe Potts said many Chinese students were planning on returning to China after graduating.

“So many jobs are available in China if you speak English and have an American college degree,” Potts said.

According to ISSS, the number of Saudi students at the University has doubled since 2005.

Potts said the U.S. government limited visas issued to students from Middle Eastern countries after Sept. 11. He said the number of Saudi students started to increase at the University when King Abdullah created a scholarship program that empowered thousands of Saudi students to study in the U.S.

“The Saudi government has a lot of money and they want to develop their country,” Potts said. “They believe that the best way to do that is to educate as many Saudis as possible outside Saudi Arabia.”

Johnston said she received more applications from abroad every year. She said KU’s Applied English Center, which helps students learn English from any level, and extra curricular activities attracted international students to the University. She said the relatively lower cost of the University allowed students who could not afford private colleges or living expenses in big cities.

International students accounted for 7 percent of total KU students in Fall 2007, according to ISSS.

Johnston said she hoped international students would enrich the campus and community.

“It increases the opportunity for our students, our faculty, and our staff and our community members to get to know the world through the individual connection,” she said. “For some people who would never get to travel, to have friends from other parts of the world, and colleagues, is really, really a good experience.”

— Edited By Case Keefer