Since November 1997, most of Asia has plunged into financial turmoil. Countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia have seen the value of their currencies drop against the dollar.
Trade has also suffered, as imports from the United States have trickled to a stop. The Asian economic crisis has not only shaken the worldwide banking industry, but it has been felt here on the campus of Cal State Long Beach and other universities across the country.
Asian students now face the prospect of returning to their countries, as money set aside for tuition in the United States is worth less than a year ago. Ten students from CSULB have already chosen to go home to help their families.
Grace Winchell, CSULB assistant director for international studies, is helping Asian students faced with the difficult decision.
"We have been monitoring the situation since November [97]," Winchell said. "We expect a greater impact in the fall. Most students had their finances set up for this spring semester, but the fall [98] could present the problem."
Of the 900 international students on campus, about 200 are from southeast Asia, with about half from South Korea. Forty students are from Thailand, 34 from Indonesia, eight from Malaysia and five from Singapore.
"These students typically receive funding from their families," Winchell said. "An average semester's tuition for foreign students is from $4,500 to $4,900, which includes the basic fee of $923 plus $246 a unit. On top of that, there are living costs and health insurance costs."
Asian student applications for off-campus work permits have increased, Winchell said.
The National Association of Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA), an international student advocacy group, has asked the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to expedite these applications.
INS approval is necessary to work off campus, economic hardship has to be proved and students have to fill out a very detailed form.
"Typically, very few students get the off-campus work permits," Winchell said. "But this association (NAFSA) is working with the INS saying, 'look, can we be a little more lenient?' There is some effort in that direction."
"They have tried to get some leniency with regard to full-time students status," Winchell said. "Immigration requires that students carry 12 units ... for off-campus work."
"The hope is that the INS will allow students from these countries to keep their visas and permits as part-time students, even if only for a year," Winchell said.
Even so, students may have to wait 90 days for an expedited work permit, Winchell said.
With a student visa, foreign students can only work on campus up to 20 hours a week, which is supplemental income at best.
NAFSA is also working with campuses in an effort to defer or reduce tuition, or even forgive tuition. CSULB is part of the Cal State University system, any effort to do anything in this area would have to be applied system wide. Individual campuses have instituted an installment plan for tuition costs.
"At CSULB, students can put their non-resident tuition costs on installment," Winchell said. "But these installments have to be paid up within three months. They have to be paid up by April for this spring semester."
Mariska Handoyo, an industrial design major, is president of the Indonesian Students Association on campus. She has been in the program for three years. So far she has been able to survive the crisis.
"I am OK at the moment. I am taking it semester by semester," Handoyo said. "Every dollar counts for me right now and I do not go out much."
Handoyo chose CSULB because her major is not offered in Indonesia. She counts herself lucky to be able to live with an aunt while attending the university. Family savings have paid the way so far, with careful financial planning, she said she hopes to complete the program.