Having more international students means greater diversity and a better mix of cultures.

It also means MSU is succeeding in gaining interest from students in other countries.

South Korean exchange student Mingyo Kim attests to the school’s renown academics in his home country.

“Michigan State is very famous in Korea — very popular,” he admits.

The university’s success in other countries is a testament to the recruiting department’s hard work.

Considering that other universities across America require higher academic standards at higher admission prices than MSU, the school should logically fall behind when it comes to housing foreign students.

But MSU consistently places within the top 25 colleges around the country when it comes to international student body size.

This increase only gives the university bragging rights as MSU should move up the ranks, in terms of exchange student population size.

Aside from providing greater classroom diversity, a larger number of international students helps to create a more mixed work environment.

Most jobs require workers to collaborate with people of different backgrounds and having more foreign students can only help students communicate with different ethnicities. This mix will help students become more professional.

If the university can continue to pick up international flavor, it might eventually help boost the state’s falling economy.

That’s something Michigan desperately needs right now.

The hope is that international students will be impressed with all that Michigan has to offer and live here permanently.

The increase benefits international students in that it allows them to explore educational opportunities in a different setting as well as gain a more global view.

Despite the many benefits of more exchange students, there are also some drawbacks.

Most of these students are coming from Asia, which is great, but hopefully students representing other areas receive the same opportunities as well.

University officials say countries with booming economies such as China and India have families with expendable incomes so they can afford to send their children overseas to study, thus contributing to the imbalance.

This means Michigan high school students will have to study harder to compete with international students.

And there’s nothing wrong with a healthy competition.

Keep up the good work, MSU. It’s one thing to brag about the study abroad programs. It’s another to increase diversity within the student population.