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news
Int'l students
mean business
By Ako Sakurai
On-line Forty-Niner
Practicality and
diversity at U.S. universities attract many international
students to study business and engineering. Cal State Long
Beach is no exception.
For the fall 2001 semester, 1,553 international students were
enrolled at CSULB, 4.5 percent of the whole student population.
Among those students, 388 majored in business and 366 majored
in engineering.
"Business is a popular major for all students, including
international students," said Paul Frantz, director of
the International Business Program. "International students,
though, who are interested in business realize that a business
education from a United States institution will enable them
to understand the business culture of the U.S. as well as
the business culture in their home country. They will be uniquely
qualified to work for either U.S. companies or companies back
home."
Nobuo Ebine, senior international business major, agreed.
"There's more opportunity to work with foreign business
people," he said.
His home country, Japan, has universities with business degrees,
but studying the specific subject here in the United States
lets him learn "how to communicate with Mexican and foreign
people, and learning their culture by working with them."
Kathy Leu, a management information systems major from Taiwan,
shares similar reasons for studying in the United States.
She decided to have her college education here because studying
in English is easier than studying in Chinese.
Leu said that studying her subject in the United States is
more practical. Business majors are popular and it's easier
to get a job, Leu said. She is looking into Web site design
as her career objective.
Veena Kondapalli from India, who is working toward her master's
degree in electrical engineering also mentioned the practical
aspect of studying at American universities. At American universities,
students need to be "good at communication skills, marketing
and interpersonal skills," she said. "That will
help us understand all aspects of life."
Lily Gossage, director of admissions and advising in the College
of Engineering, realizes that "math-ready" international
students have an advantage of majoring in engineering. The
program requires Calculus I to be accepted into the College
of Engineering.
"Math-ready international students are joyful to the
faculty," Gossage said. "The level of math and science
are much higher outside of the U.S. And students usually gravitate
toward their strength."
The number of international students majoring in engineering
increased from 5 percent in the spring of 1997 to 12 percent
in the spring of 2002.
"It will be interesting to see the data for the next
spring," Gossage said.
Tuition is a factor, Gossage said. Though international
students pay an average of $19,420 a year for their education
at CSULB, it is still less expensive than the University of
California system.
Plus, the diversity at this institution makes international
students more comfortable.
The College of Business Administration at CSULB is the largest
business college in the state of California, and among the
10 largest colleges of business in the United States. Enrollment
has increased more than 60 percent in the last four years,
and it is a most popular major selected by incoming freshmen.
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