FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.- The university is growing at an overwhelming rate, and now students are also coming from all over the world to attend school here.
This semester we’ve seen an increase in the international enrollment rate, with about 15 thousand exchange students at the U of A.
Of those 15 thousand students, 114 countries are represented with China, Panama, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia being the most represented countries on campus.
As of spring 2015 the top fields of study for international students are electrical engineering, industrial engineering, cell and molecular biology, engineering first year, and civil engineering.
“I realized that the United States offered more opportunities as studying different stuff that you like and offers more job opportunities. Also I think schools in the United States are more updated, have more diversity, and have more up to date programs and knowledge than school back home,” said Nina Drolc, a senior industrial engineering student from Slovenia. “I also had a lot of friends from the United States that would bear with me while I was struggling and explain some stuff that I didn’t understand and especially when I didn’t speak English as well in the beginning and they would try to explain more stuff to me so I know what’s going on.”
“One of the main problems international students face is culture shock, so like the International Student Organization help you to adjust to the culture, the American culture, American people, make friends with American people, and help to line up with the culture”, said Vicent Semwaga, a senior accounting major from Rwanda and treasurer for the African Student Organization and the International Student Organization.
Drolc said after she graduates she hopes to stay in the US and find an engineering job while Semwaga would eventually like to go back home to Rwanda and use his education to inspire people back home.
For more information check out the Universtiy of Arkansas International Students and Scholars twitter page.
-Hannah Bortnick