The University of Arizona has reported its highest international student enrollment ever.
Of the roughly 49,000 students enrolled at the UA this fall, more than 5,400 are international students.
But the enrollment trend the UA is seeing is not what’s happening at most colleges and universities right now.
Although the number of international students attending school in the United States had been on the rise in the 2010s, the COVID-19 pandemic forced an about-face. According to most recent data from Open Doors, an information resource center on international students sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, overall international student enrollment dropped from 1,095,299 in 2019 to 914,095 in 2021.
Brent White, vice president for global affairs and dean of global education at the UA, said in a news release that UA’s uptick in international student enrollment reflects “a coordinated and holistic approach to global education that was a pillar of the university’s strategic plan long before COVID.”
One of the UA’s pillar’s for success in its current strategic plan is “redefining international and setting the standard for a global university in the digital age.”
The UA offers opportunities for international students to earn degrees at the main campus in Tucson or through several other online and microcampus programs, including in Africa, Mexico and East Asia. This fall, just under 3,100 students are taking classes in Tucson, whereas 2,073 are attending the UA outside of the United States.
“This approach involves meeting students wherever they are and providing opportunities to earn a UArizona degree in their home country, at the main campus in Tucson, online or any combination of the three,” White said. “Our global enrollment was growing before the pandemic and has only accelerated since then.”
International student enrollment is one piece of the UA’s push to expand its online education footprint. The university’s in-house Arizona Online has 7,352 students enrolled this fall — up from about 4,200 during the 2019-20 academic year. And as of this fall, the UA’s acquisition of Ashford University, the troubled for-profit college that it has rebranded as UA Global Campus, has also yielded an additional 29,000 online students.
Two years ago, the UA launched Global Direct Online, which offers degree paths that are accessible and affordable to students who do not live in Arizona. Of the more than 2,000 students taking UA classes outside the country, 181 are pursuing an online degree path through the program.
“The online degree options we have created are making a huge difference to students who (need) flexibility in these uncertain times,” Stephanie Adamson, UA assistant dean for global admissions and enrollment, said. “We are making sure those students who need to can pursue their degree from their home country. We are truly living up to our international admissions motto: ‘Everywhere you are.’”
For those international students who want to learn in person but don’t want to relocate to Tucson, the UA also offers dual degree programs through its 13 worldwide micro campuses and 11 partner universities. Students who complete the program earn a dual-degree from the UA and one of its partner universities, opening up the opportunity for students to complete an accredited degree from an American institution without leaving their home country.
This year, there’s a record 1,892 students enrolled through a microcampus, which is a 400-student increase from this time last year.
Students in the program, who learn from UA professors and utilize UA resources, also have the option to spend one semester at the main campus in Tucson.
Silvana Lucia Sosaya Moreno is a senior at one of the UA’s microcampus partners, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas in Lima, Peru, where she’s working toward a degree in sustainable architecture.
Moreno, who is spending this semester in Tucson, said spending a semester here “has allowed me to do more research than what I am used to.” It also has given her the opportunity “to understand another culture and to adapt to a new teaching methodology,” and gain a “broader perspective of what I can do as a professional.”
Daniel Palm, the UA’s associate vice president for global affairs said the UA’s Tucson campus has long been a destination for international students, which he suspects will only intensify as time goes on.
“We are building partnerships that will last, growing as a top global university and pursuing collaborations with institutions that share our vision,” Palm said. “With the degree paths and options available through our worldwide network, our international student enrollment has great potential to continue growing.”
