Foreign enrollment

American universities and colleges are looking outside the country to raise revenue and help balance their budgets.

At least 10 percent of the freshman class this year at public universities in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and the University of California campuses at Berkeley and Los Angeles are international students. The number rises to 15 percent at Columbia University, Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania, and 18 percent at the University of Washington, according to a New York Times report about a growing trend that can pit foreign students against in-state residents competing for admission.

Foreign students pay higher tuition rates than in-state residents at public universities. At the University of Washington, where 11 percent of the 5.800 freshmen come from China, international students pay about $28,000 a year, or three times what in-state students pay. Some colleges tack on additional fees. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign added a $2,500 surcharge this year.

While some colleges engage in overseas recruitment, others do not, as is the case at the University of Washington, where university President Michael K. Young defended the policy. Still, the university received more than 6,000 international applications this year. The university has more foreign students than nonresidents, who pay the same tuition rate. “Is there any advantage to our taking a kid from California versus a kid from China? You’d have to convince me, because the world isn’t divided the way it used to be,” Mr. Young said.

The preference for international students grows as public colleges see their state financing decline. The higher tuition charged foreign students makes up for some of the loss and helps underwrite the cost of in-state residents, who pay less or even no tuition. But it also works to their disadvantage since they must now compete against a growing pool of international applicants vying for their seat in the classroom.

It upsets parents as well, angry that their sons and daughters are denied admission to a college supported by their tax dollars. They may have to pay to get their college education at another institution, if they can afford it.

Internationalization is another manifestation of the globalism in which Americans must compete.