When Talha Baweja moved from Karachi, Pakistan, to East Lansing to start school at MSU, there was more than just a new culture to adjust to.
"I liked snow the first winter," he said. "Since then, I hate it."
The telecommunication, information studies and media junior said his uncle encouraged him to attend MSU. Baweja is one of many international students at MSU.
A report released last week showed the number of MSU's international student population has increased from 3,202 students to 3,278 students. The annual report "Diversity within Community" was produced by the Office of Affirmative Action, Compliance and Monitoring.
In addition to the report, data from the Office of International Students and Scholars shows that the year's increase is part of a continuing trend, even with increased restrictions after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
International students made up 7.4 percent of the student population in Fall 2003 - more than a 500-student increase over a five-year period.
Baweja said when he arrived at MSU, his cousin already was a student.
"He supported me a lot," he said.
Office director Peter Briggs said that MSU's increases in the number of international students are reflective of a national trend and commitment to diversity.
"In the post-Sept. 11 world, the message the U.S. is sending overseas might be perceived as unwelcoming," Briggs said. "We've done really well to recruit (students) and retain them."
Asia is the most heavily represented region at MSU. More than 50 percent of the international population is from Korea, China, India, Japan and Taiwan.
Briggs said that two of the biggest obstacles to coming to the United States are the cost of living and obtaining a visa.
Biochemistry junior Anthonia Ifeanyi-Nwanze's first time to the United States was when she came to MSU. She was born in Nigeria and also lived in Kenya.
"I'd never been away from my parents," she said. "I didn't know anyone here."
Ifeanyi-Nwanze said many people from the middle and upper classes try to study overseas if they have the resources. A full-time international undergraduate student living on campus would pay approximately $19,000 a year, compared to about $11,000 a year for an in-state undergraduate student, according to calculations from the Office of Financial Aid's Web site.
"It's becoming more common," Ifeanyi-Nwanze said, adding that her younger brother attends MSU.
"We bring different ideas and a different point of view," she said of international students. "It does help open our minds to the good and the bad."
