The International Dimension to STEM Transfer Trends Richard Nader, Ph.D. UNT-International (Interim) Vice Provost for International Affairs

Propositions: U.S. higher education institutions must get creative at attracting and retaining new streams of STEM students. International students studying in the U.S. predominantly choose the STEM fields. Many international students transfer from Community Colleges and many are in STEM. International Transfer students tend to persist at higher rates than all Transfer students.

Competition for Global Talent 3500 K 700 K 60 K 3 K  3.5 million int’l. students world-wide.  700,000 (20%) study in the U.S. which is the top destination.  60,000 (8.5% of int’l. students in the US) study in Texas, a top- 3 state.  About 2700 (4.5% of int’l. students in Texas) study at UNT, top-10 in Texas, top-2 in DFW Metroplex.  About 300 international transfer students currently enrolled at UNT 0.3 K

“In 2009, China produced 550,000 engineers, India produced 250,000 engineers, U.S. colleges graduated just 70,000 engineers….this U.S. lack of focus on preparing for the global, technology- intensive economy is the ‘quiet crisis’” Thomas Friedman, 2010

“U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S. competitiveness………… ………….need to develop, recruit, and retain top students, scientists, and engineers from both the U.S. and abroad” Rising Above The Gathering Storm

International Transfer Potential: where are they now? Source: Texas Association for Community Colleges (TACC), 2011 Enrollment of International Students at Texas Community Colleges (Fall 2010) Richland College (Vietnamese) Northlake College (Nepalese)

How many international transfer students were enrolled at UNT during Fall 2010? 289

Source: IIE, OpenDoors, 2010 International Students in the U.S. by field of study ( ) STEM

How many international transfer students were enrolled in the STEM fields at UNT? 6925%

Georgia State Persistence Study (2010) 1 st Year Persistence Graduation Rates Source: Heather Housley, Georgia State University (2010) Transfers Do international transfer students persist at a higher rate?

Suppositions: Community Colleges producing STEM students may begin to see greater numbers of international students as part of the overall growth and according to catchment demographics. International Transfer students from Community Colleges may increase from a “trickle to a flood” for 4-year schools targeting this population. International Transfer students tend to persist at a higher rate than all Transfer students and therefore may positively impact STEM graduation rates.

Research Challenges Do retention and graduation relationships between international and overall transfer populations apply to the STEM fields? Do retention efforts that purposefully combine international student recruiting efforts with overall transfer recruiting yield higher overall success among STEM transfers? Do international students studying in U.S. community colleges predominantly choose the STEM fields?

Conclusion UNT has made recruiting and retaining International Transfers an equal priority for improving overall graduation rates of STEM majors.