A Truly Global University

At a fireside chat last semester, University President Lee Bollinger said that Columbia strives to obtain the best minds in the world regardless of geographic location or nationality. However, while the University hosts the second-most international students among U.S. colleges and universities, this goal will not be achieved through its current policies. Columbia must focus more effort on cultivating an international community that is socioeconomically diverse and expanding support for foreign students once they arrive on campus, giving them better access to financial aid and housing.

According to Columbia’s International Students and Scholars Office, which serves as the administrative support for international students, the University currently hosts over 9,800 members from foreign countries. But while they actively contribute to campus life at all four undergraduate schools, international students often struggle with financial aid and housing. Certain aspects of being an international student complicate what are otherwise routine procedures for securing financial aid and housing. Columbia offers limited, University-funded financial aid to international students on the basis of need, which is the only source of financial aid for a category of students who cannot turn to federal programs. While private student loans are always an option, however unattractive, international students often face the added obstacle of having to find someone to co-sign in a country where there are few familiar faces. This leaves many struggling to fund their educations.

Working to raise money for college expenses is also a challenge for international students, who are allowed to work only on campus during their first year and must apply with the Immigration and Naturalization Services to work a maximum of 20 hours off-campus each year afterward. With the School of General Studies’ hosting the highest number of international students, many more have to deal with added policy restrictions that threaten to leave them without basic support that other students take for granted: not only are GS students not guaranteed housing, but the school’s merit-based financial aid is excluded from the University’s new initiative to issue grants instead of loans to those whose families earn less than $50,000 annually. Such policies disproportionately affect the international community and reflect poorly on the University’s commitment to its foreign students.

In keeping with Columbia’s reputation as a globally conscious institution, the University must do more to welcome international students. One immediate change that Columbia should consider is moving the the International Student and Scholars Office, which is currently on 120th Street and Riverside Drive, to Lerner Hall to make it more accessible. The University should also consider increasing fund-raising and setting aside a portion of incoming scholarship funds on behalf of international students. What’s more, the University must keep in mind the struggles that some international students face in trying simultaneously to attend class and support themselves financially, and it should consider developing a policy to guarantee housing and adopt financial aid policies that are more nuanced. International students add an indispensable variety of opinion and experience to Columbia’s community and serve as reminders that not only is the University located in one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, but it has some of the best intellectuals that the world has to offer. It is only fair that Columbia should give them its best in return.