Sunday, September 10, 2006

Saudi Students in American Colleges

According to the Associated Press article "Saudi Students Pour Into U.S. Colleges," roughly 10,000 Saudi Arabian students are registered to attend classes this semester in American colleges. These students, 90% of whom are given $31,000 scholarships by the Saudi royal family, are much sought after by large public universities throughout the United States who want their tuition dollars. According to U.S. government officials, Saudi Arabia plans to send even more students by January, bringing the number of Saudi students in American universities to approximately 15,000.

Will this influx of Saudi students paying full tuition affect the likelihood of colleges accepting many American students? Additionally, what effect, if any, will the presence of these Saudi students have on tolerance and understanding between Americans and Saudis during this time of conflict between the ideals of fundamental Islam and the Western world?

1 comment:

yangdi said...

I don’t think the influx of Saudi students is a big problem. Although many public universities are seeking students who can afford the total tuition to raise their foundation, those Saudi students are not likely to make a huge influence, because the number of students is relatively too small compared to the international students from China, India, Japan and so forth. And I think even these countries’ impact is not a big deal. As to the culture difference, I guess as a big molten pot, America can deal with such problem very well. Admittedly, there may be some troublesome issues, so America still has to make effort to solve them.