Something Old, Something New

It's a long way from Kathmandu to Kent, Ohio, but this past fall, seven friends from Nepal—six undergraduates and one MBA student—all found themselves attending Kent State University. It’s unusual for so many friends to attend the same U.S. institution at the same time, but they got there in an increasingly familiar way: another friend who had previously attended Kent State told Anit Kunwar about his experience there, Kunwar told his friends, and they all came to Ohio. 

“Each of us is encountering our own once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but we have the advantage of being able to share them with each other, too,” Kunwar says. 

Nepal is a relatively new source of international students for many U.S. institutions, but Kunwar’s experience serves as a reminder that, despite current challenges and ongoing shifts in student mobility that have slowed the overall growth trends in international education, not everything has changed. 

“Even with all these shifting trends, when our students are happy, they will recruit for you,” says Salma Benhaida, Kent State’s director of international recruitment and admissions. 

To be sure, the recruitment process is becoming more complex. For many institutions, it now involves greater investments in a wider range of countries and employing a broader mix of strategies. For others, it has involved a redoubled commitment to internationalization and support services. Above all, it has reinforced the commitment to internationalization on many U.S. campuses.

“I feel strongly this is not the time to reduce opportunities for dialogue and interaction for students abroad,”