Foreign students are a lucrative target for California community colleges, reports the Glendale News-Press. Recruiting international students, who can receive F-1 visas to study in the U.S., is a “$20 billion-a-year industry that generates revenue, prestige and a wide-reaching alumni base for the campuses.”
California residents pay $36 per unit to enroll at the state’s 112 community colleges, money that is funneled back to Sacramento. Foreign students pay approximately six times as much, with the revenue going directly into the college’s discretionary fund.
At Glendale Community College, non-resident tuition has generated between $2.2 million and $3.2 million annually during the last 10 years — no small sum for a college that has had its budget whittled down by $2.5 million in the past year to about $83.5 million amid the economic downturn.
“I don’t mean to sound crass about it, but the non-resident tuition they bring in is much more significant than a local resident student,” said David Nelson, director of international recruitment and outreach for Glendale Community College. “All the UCs and the Cal States and the community colleges are vying for the market share.”
In a survey of admissions directors, one third of community college officials said a key strategy is increasing the number of full-pay students, reports Inside Higher Ed. That includes out-of-state and international students.
