U.S. universities try to lure RI students

U.S. universities try to lure RI students

JAKARTA (JP): Many American schools and universities are
launching large-scale promotion drives to lure new students from
Indonesia and other Asian countries.

No less than 24 American universities and colleges, in
cooperation with the American-Indonesian Exchange Foundation
(AMINEF), held a one-day education exhibition here yesterday.

Their representatives said they were optimistic that they
would be able to recruit a large number of Asian students for the
next academic year that will start in September.

"We have many things considerably better to offer than others
do and, therefore, they will choose us," Jack Conley of Abilene
Christian University in Texas told The Jakarta Post.

All of the universities, which have dormitories and sports
facilities, have been accredited and have good reputations in the
United States and overseas as well, he said.

Private universities and institutes set US$18,000 as the cost
of higher education for 1995-1996. The expenses include the
tuition fee, dormitory accommodations and medical insurance.
Public, or state, universities set the annual cost at around
US$6,000.

Linda Collin, a recruitment coordinator for the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, said at least 18 Indonesians have expressed
their interest in continuing their studies at the university in
the next academic year.

Robert W. Allan, a member of the exhibition's organizing
committee, said that last year over 400,000 international
students studied in around 1,000 universities, colleges and
institutes in the United States and more than two thirds of these
students came from Asia.

"The figure is expected to rise slightly this year," he said.

He said the annual costs cited were relatively cheap because
they cover not only school fees, but also dormitory
accommodations, meals and medical insurance.

"Compared to that of in Australia, the annual cost is
cheaper...," he said.

Ardythe Huber-Fenwick of AMINEF said that representatives from
another group of American universities will arrive here today to
hold a similar exhibition and counseling sessions at the Mandarin
Hotel on Wednesday.

He said that prestigious American universities such as Harvard
University and a number of California universities do not hold
such promotional activities because they have to turn down many
applications every year.

"Those universities need no promotion," she said.

Yesterday's exhibition, attended by around 1,000 students,
was the first stop on the American university groups' tour of
Asian countries. They will hold such exhibitions in Malaysia,
Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong in the next two weeks. (rms)