Foreign Students (FS) and Domestic Minorities: Complements or Competitors?

1
Foreign Students (FS) and Domestic Minorities
Complements or Competitors?
Jayanti Owens, Office of Population Research and
Department of Sociology (jowens_at_princeton.edu)

• Texas heightened selectivity regime leads to a
  College squeeze, particularly at public
  universities
• Baby boom echo (40 increase in h.s. cohorts
  until 20-21)
• Educational upgradingcollege degree more
  necessary
• Sky-rocketing college costs, particularly at
  private universities
• Priority admission for Texas residents (cap
  out-of-state enrollments)
• 50 of admits in2005 enter through Top 10 Law
• Why, then, do universities continue to seek
  foreign students?
• 1) Most are full-fee paying increase
  universitys revenue
• 2) Signal high institutional status (Golden 2002)

• Findings and Conclusion
• Foreign students Signals of institutional status
• Heightened selectivity among foreign applicants
  to each of the four institutions of ranging
  selectivity, size of undergrad pop., and
  public/private university status
• Growth in size of FS pop. at each institution
• Universities of ranging selectivity desire FS
• Universities want to attract as selective of a
  group of FS as they are ablereflected in the
  higher SAT scores of admitted foreign applicants
  at selective public universities like
  UT-Austincompared to domestic applicants
• Admitting an increasingly selective group of FS
  reinforces reputation as an up and coming
  university b/c FS reflect an increasingly global
  student body

• Texas Higher Education Opportunity Project
  Administrative Data Census of all applicants to
  
• UT-Austin (1990-2003) 50,000 students 36,000
  undergraduate students and 14,000 graduates
• AM (1992-2002) 46,000 students 37,500
  undergraduates and 8,500 graduates
• TX Tech (1991-2003) 28,000 students 23,000
  undergraduates, 5,000 graduates
• Rice (2000-2004) 5,000 students 3,000
  undergraduates and 2,000 graduates

Research Questions 1) Are the numbers of
foreign students at Texas largest public
universities and its most-selective private
university decreasing over time? 2) Are the
foreign students admitted to Texas most
selective public and private universities
becoming increasingly selective over time? 3)
Are the chances of being admitted higher for
foreign students in technical fields that are in
high-demand, such as the sciences and
engineering? 4) How do foreign students chances
of being admitted compare to those of domestic
minority applicants?
Foreign Applicants, Admits, and Enrollees, By
Institution
Foreign Students and Domestic Minorities
Experience Approx. Equal Admissions Odds FS
Continue to be Desired Despite College Squeeze
Public Universities and Caps on Foreign Students
Narratives About Competition
Changing Odds of Admission (1) Among All Foreign
Applicants vs. High-SAT (gt1300) Foreign Applicants

• Mid-1990s UT-Austin reaches caps on foreign
  admits permitted by a public institution.
• Numbers of foreign applicants continue to rise
  between 1996-2003.
• Texas AM and Texas Tech are less appealing to
  foreign applicants because they are
• Roughly half the size of UT-Austin
• Less-selective
• Less able to cater through their specialties to
  the
• types of training in demand among foreign
• applicants
• Ex UT-Austin offers a petroleum engineering
  division that is in high-demand among foreign
  students,
• TX AM has a strong agricultural tradition that
  is much less in demand
• In 2000 and after, less dramatic increase in
  foreign applicants at TX AM and TX Tech so cap
  not reached.
• Implication TX AM and TX Techs acceptance
  rates continue rising.

• 1995 Senior administrators speak out about how
  attracting foreign students reflects a
  universitys prominent reputation.
• April, 1996 Dr. Gregory Walters, Vice President
  for Institutional Advancement at Montclair State
  University in New Jersey reported to the New York
  Times
• As a public university, our primary goal is to
  provide an excellent education for New Jersey
  residents. Most out-of-state and international
  students come here because they have heard of our
  reputation for offering a fine education at an
  affordable price, and they contribute to New
  Jersey's economy during their stay with us.
• 2003 UT-Austin experiences a 120 increase in
  its numbers of foreign applicants between
  1990-2003. TX Tech and AM increase foreign
  students admitted, allows them to claim an appeal
  for foreign students.
• 2005 Statements by university leaders expanded
  focus beyond the status-signal associated with a
  universitys ability to attract foreign students.
  Sheer competition becomes apparent.
• President Steven B. Staple of USC, which boasts
  the highest enrollment of foreign students at any
  American university (enrolling 6,647 foreign
  students in 2004), says in an interview with the
  Houston Chronicle
• We compete no holds barred among ourselves for
  the best faculty, for students, for gifts and for
  grants, and that's one of the reasons for our
  strength. Now we'll compete with some overseas
  universities for international students. Fine
  with me, bring 'em on.

Controls for female, h.s. rank, AP exams taken,
h.s. characteristics, 1st choice major, social
class background. All FS SAT gt1300 FS
Figure 1. Enrolled Foreign Students in Each
Cohort By Institution Over Time
Foreign Students Artists and Social Scientists?
Odds of Admission by Major
Figure 2. Numbers of Foreign Applicants and
Percent Admitted by Institution and Year,
1990-2004
Increasing Selectivity in Foreign Admissions
Acknowledgement The author would like to
acknowledge Marta Tienda for generous use of the
THEOP administrative data and the Office of
Population Research, Princeton University for
support in attending the Population Association
Annual Meeting in 2009.