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The article examines reasons for which colleges in the U.S. are rushing to open degree programs overseas. In 2003, the State University of New York at Buffalo, opened a branch campus in Singapore, where 250 students are enrolled in bachelor's and master's programs in business and communications. Last month the university signed an agreement with an institution in Bangalore, India, to run two master's programs in information technology there. While a few American institutions have maintained small overseas campuses for decades, often as study-abroad locations for their students back home, the growth of overseas programs for foreign students has taken off only in the past decade. Foreign branch campuses also provide trouble-free destinations for American students. The Georgia Institute of Technology, which has degree programs in France and Singapore and one opening this fall in China, is discussing possible programs with authorities in two Indian states.

The article highlights some of the findings reported in "Open Doors," an annual report on international students and scholars in the U.S., published by the Institute of International Education and supported by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The report indicates that the number of foreign students in the U.S. remained steady in the 2005 academic year, ending two years of declines. At the same time, the number of new international students increased by 8 percent, suggesting that total foreign enrollments may soon rise. Responses from various higher education officials and further details of the report are provided, along with information about issues that arise for international students when trying to obtain visas.

Reports on the decline in the number of foreign students at universities and colleges in the U.S. in 2003. Details of an annual report on academic mobility published by the Institute of International Education; Factors that contributed to the decline in enrollments of foreign students in the U.S.; Efforts of the Japan-United States Educational Commission to implement recruitment campaigns for students in Japan.

Focuses on foreign enrollments in the United States (U.S.) and its international competitors. Information on the states with increased number of foreign students; Strategies and efforts implemented by the international competitors of U.S. to attract foreign students; Details of a statistical report by the Institute of International Education concerning international students; Colleges in U.S. with the most numbers of foreign students in 2000 to 2001.

The article focuses on the problems of visa violation faced by the foreign students due to disruptions caused by the hurricane Katrina. While the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has loosened some of its rules for foreign students, other cumbersome regulations remain. The students must enroll at another college within 30 days of the originally scheduled start of their classes, or else leave the country. While many of the colleges in Katrina's path provided buses to evacuate students in the day or two before the hurricane hit, most international students, like their American classmates, scattered in an unorganized exodus from the Gulf Coast. Colleges accepting foreign students have had the double burden of finding appropriate classes for them and hunting down advisers from their stricken institutions.

The article discusses the one percent increase in foreign students at U.S. graduate schools, reversing a three year trend of declining representation, according to a Council of Graduate Schools survey. Student visas were restricted following the 2001 terrorist attacks; those restrictions have been revised to help students seeking admittance to American schools. The majority of foreign graduate students in the U.S. are from China or India and are found mostly in science and engineering programs.

The article reports that the U.S. has announced that it would open the Fulbright Foreign Student Program to Libyan students, following its decision to re-establish diplomatic relations with Libya. The United States Liaison Office in Tripoli said it was seeking applicants for scholarships for two years of graduate study at American institutions in a variety of subjects. About 10 scholarships are expected to be awarded for study starting in the fall of 2007. In the early 1980s, 3,000 Libyans, mostly graduate students, were attending American higher-education institutions. Libya slid into isolation after being accused by Western governments for supporting terrorist groups. The country began re-emerging on the global scene in 2003 after it took responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan American plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, and then, after negotiations with the U.S., renounced weapons of mass destruction.

The article informs that the Educational Testing Service introduced a new version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (Toefl) that it said was a better gauge of how well foreigners seeking to study in the United States and other countries could really speak the language. The test, which is known as the Toefl, is taken by most foreign students who are being considered for admission at English-speaking higher-education institutions, including those in the United States. In 2004, nearly 750,000 students took the test. In 2005, students taking the exam are paying a fee of $140 each.

Summarizes the topics discussed at the session Stand Tall: How to Deal With DHS Investigations during the annual meeting of Nafsa: Association of International Educators held in Seattle, Washington. Factors to consider by school officials when they receive requests for information about particular foreign students; Implications of the ambiguity on the extent of stepped-up government requests for data on foreign students; Complaints of campus officials against the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System used in the U.S.