“I was very nervous,” she said. “When I first got here, my English was not very good, so I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to understand the people around me.”

He is one of a rapidly growing number of international students at MSU, with the university surpassing 3,000 undergraduates from foreign countries for the first time this year.

This year, the total number of international students has increased by nearly 500 students, a greater increase than any other racial or ethnic category of students at MSU.

The total also is 2,500 more students than any other minority group on campus, causing some to call into question the reasons behind the surging population, as the university places a higher value in global diversity than ever before.

Striking a balance
Working with MSU Culinary Services, music performance junior Mike Finney has found the language barrier between himself and international students to be difficult.

A large part of Finney’s job involves training cafeteria employees.

“There’s a really hard time being able to communicate (with some international students),” he said.

As the international student population has grown, some students have not been happy with the results on campus.

Black Student Alliance President and education senior Mario Lemons said the growing international student population has come at the expense of domestic diversity.

In creating a global experience at MSU, Lemons said offices black students depend on, such as the Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions, or OCAT, and the Office of Supportive Services, or OSS, have received less funding and have been threatened with budgetary cuts.

“The perception for the black community and students of color is that we’re not of value,” he said. “It’s very clear that the international students are bringing in a lot more money than other students of color.”

International students pay the same tuition as out-of-state students, which is much higher than the in-state amount. According to the Office of Admissions’ website, an international freshman should budget for about $31,757 for 15 credits per semester, not including housing and other expenses.

Peter Briggs, who has been the director of the Office for International Students and Scholars, or OISS, since 2001, also said it’s much more difficult for international students to receive financial aid.

Although MSU Trustee Melanie Foster chose not to comment on the percentage of out-of-state students at MSU, she said making sure the university remains accessible for Michigan residents should be a priority.

“We want to have a vibrant, diverse student body, but we have to look at our land grant mission of access to the citizens of this state,” Foster said. “Certainly with decreasing state funds, revenue is made up elsewhere, but it’s imperative that we stay true to our mission of educating the people of this state first.”

Briggs said the decrease in the university’s state funding likely has played a role in the rising international student population at MSU, but he doesn’t believe it’s coming at the expense of domestic students.

“Everything I’ve ever heard the admissions office say is they’ve never denied admission to a qualified student,” Briggs said. “There’s an implication that there’s a preference to people who pay more, and I don’t think that’s accurate.”

Although Finney views having a strong international base as a positive educational influence on the university, he also feels there needs to be a balance between the amount of international and domestic students.

“If it gets too much, you’re just having an international college,” Finney said. “I feel like it’s almost becoming (more of) a monetary priority than a cultural one.”

Associate Director for International Admissions Patty Croom said admissions decisions aren’t solely based on the revenue they would provide the university.

To have geographic diversity on campus, Croom said having a significant number of international students from a variety of backgrounds is critical.

“It’s important that students not come here and have it look like a Michigan high school,” she said. “(There’s a drive) to have students interacting with people from different parts of the world.”

Although Lemons agrees the university benefits from international diversity, he said the increase in international students is tied more to the financial benefits they bring.

“The amount of international students show they don’t care about providing an international objective (as much as) they are trying to get money,” Lemons said. “It’s a very intentional effort to monopolize and exploit international students and unfortunately students of color are being affected negatively.”

Noticing a change
In fall 2010, after noticing the number of Chinese students had grown by more than 38 times what it had been five years prior — from 43 students in 2005 to 1,649 in 2010 — Briggs knew MSU had to do something to stay ahead of the curve.

To help him stay in touch with the needs of the university’s largest growing student demographic, Briggs developed a team of seven Chinese undergraduates to discuss issues on campus.

The group, known as Project Explore, meets each Friday and does an annual survey of Chinese students to evaluate their experience at MSU.

“I wanted to be proactive and have my ear to the ground,” he said. “We saw … such a significant shift that we thought we should do something different to attend to it.”

In addition to increasingly liberal policies with U.S. visas, Briggs said many Chinese students are studying in the U.S. because only 18 percent of students are admitted to Chinese universities.

Briggs said the opportunity for American students to learn about a variety of unique cultures no longer is limited to study abroad programs.

“It certainly gives us firsthand experience to know the world in a time of global education,” he said. “Friendship with someone that’s not like you can be transformational.”

When graduate student Afshan Huma left Islamabad, Pakistan, to study at MSU, she was surprised by how friendly the people on campus were.

“I was feeling anxious about coming here,” Huma said.

But for Huma, the education style of MSU came as a shock. She was not used to reading and discussion-based learning. In Pakistan, classes are centered around a lecture with little discussion between the professor and students.

“We have more the culture of lecturing,” she said. “Here it was different from all that, and that was a good part.”

However, the focus on American views in her courses bothered Huma. She hoped her classes would provide a worldly view on the topics covered and disliked how many of the materials introduced in her classes were focused on the U.S.

“That was a bit disturbing for me,” Huma said. “We are international students, and we don’t want to just know about the U.S. We want to know about what’s going on in the world.”

Huma arrived at MSU with six other Pakistani students in her program, and for her first year, she mainly socialized with just them.

“We had a special bond,” Huma said. “In the first year, I was more comfortable with people from our own country.”

As she moved into her second year at MSU, however, she began to branch out to other groups, and making friends with other students has been one of the “most beneficial” parts of her education.

“I got this experience of meeting so many people from so many other countries,” Huma said.

Coming to America
Growing up in the big city of Chengdu, China, He didn’t expect there to be much of a change when she arrived at MSU.

Because Michigan has the eighth largest population in the country, according to data from the 2010 U.S. Census, He was surprised to see the size of the new town she would be calling home.

“I was surprised because I thought of it as being a big state,” she said “But (East Lansing) is like a small town.”

After struggling to make friends in her first year at MSU, He began getting more involved with student organizations on campus.

Becoming an aide for OCAT and landing a position as a teaching assistant has helped He strengthen her English and develop a network of friendships with domestic students.

“If I couldn’t make friends (with Chinese or domestic students), I should try harder to make American friends, and I got involved in more groups and started making American friends,” she said. “I could just hang out with Chinese students. But I want to practice my English, and I’ve made some very good American friends.”

From her experience, He said a majority of Chinese students only spend time with fellow Chinese students and ultimately are missing out on the complete American education they traveled across the world to experience.

“If you just want to hang out with people from your own country, why don’t you go to college in your own country?” she said “You spend all this money and come all the way here, you should try to make friends and overcome your fear.”

Cultural benefits, such as the ones He has experienced, are not limited to international students, said Paulette Granberry Russell, the director of the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives.

By interacting with students from across the world, Granberry Russell said domestic students receive a more well-rounded and comprehensive educational experience, which is part of what the university aims to provide.

“If part of our responsibility is to prepare students for experiences in the borders of the U.S. and outside the borders of the U.S., having cross-cultural experiences are important,” she said. “To create that experience, there needs to be more than a small percentage of the population.”

Ultimately, MSU Trustee George Perles said maintaining a balance between qualified international students and Michigan residents is critical for the university’s future.

“We just don’t want to go overboard,” Perles said. “We want to have a little flavor with international students because they really deserve (to be here), but number one we want to take care of the citizens in our state.”

Staff reporter Julia Nagy contributed to this report.