Boston College’s combined undergraduate and graduate international student population rose from 1,606 last year to 1,751 this year, a new record for the University, according to BC News. Over the past 10 years, total international student enrollment has increased over 70 percent.
While total enrollment has remained at a relatively stable level over the past 30 years, hovering at just above 14,000 students, international students are continually increasing in total enrollment.
“At the undergraduate level, we continue to experience steady growth,” Adrienne Nussbaum, the director of the Office of International Students and Scholars, told BC News. “We saw a nearly nine percent increase, which is a cumulative effect of admitting more international freshmen over the past few years, as well as welcoming more exchange students in both the fall and spring semesters.”
A variety of factors have contributed to the growth of the international student population on campus, including significant growth in the representation of students from countries in Asia, who constitute 65 percent of the total, as the figures in the BC Fact Book show.
The amount of Chinese students on campus has increased over 1,200 percent since the early ’90s, with 793 currently in the undergraduate and graduate population. One hundred sixty-two Korean students also attend BC at this time.
European students compose the second-largest continental group of international students, with Spain’s 51 students representing the largest contingent.
Within the graduate schools, the overall number of international students increased by more than nine percent this year. The Fact Books demonstrate that these increases are largely due to higher enrollments in the graduate programs in the Carroll School of Management and Lynch School of Education, the School of Social Work, the School of Theology and Ministry, and the Woods College of Advancing Studies.
According to BC News, economics is the most popular field of study among international undergraduate students, followed by finance and mathematics. BC further noted that accounting, theology, and finance are the most frequently studied fields among graduate international students.
Featured Image by Nicole Chan / Heights Editor
