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Ohio State ranked in the top 20 nationally for international students and study abroad

Posted on | November 18, 2009 | 645 views |

Ohio State ranks as one of the nation’s top 20 universities for its international student enrollment and the number of students studying abroad, according to a national report.

Ohio State is ranked 14th among the nation’s colleges and universities for hosting 4,583 international students and 20th with 1,704 students studying abroad. Ohio State also ranks sixth in the nation with 1,449 students studying abroad on short-term programs. Short-term programs are defined as taking place during the summer, January term or for eight weeks or less during the academic year.

These findings were issued as part of the Open Doors 2009 report, an annual survey published by the Institute of International Education.

“As the importance of international and cultural exchange becomes an increasingly critical component of a student’s education, Ohio State is developing a plan that will give us a presence in key locations around the world,” said William Brustein, Ohio State’s new vice provost for global strategies and international affairs. “Our national rankings provide us with a good foundation from which we can build.”

Brustein recently joined Ohio State and is responsible for integrating international and multicultural experiences to the academic units within the university and expanding and enhancing its global reach.

He is developing plans for Ohio State to open “Global Gateways” that will serve as a central location in another country or region of the world where the university will be able to engage alumni, recruit international students, foster partnerships for faculty with universities abroad and enhance study abroad opportunities for students. Ohio State would start with Global Gateways in China, India and Brazil.

Also part of Ohio State’s strategy is to provide international learning experiences that will be based on global competency skills. “In today’s world students need to be globally aware and familiar with global change,” Brustein said. “They must be able to adapt to diverse cultures and be able to communicate across cultural boundaries. And students must be able to comprehend the international dimension of their field of study.

“We are preparing a strategy that will ensure our students will succeed in this new and changing global marketplace.”

International students at Ohio State are from 119 different countries including China (1,161); India (876); South Korea (820); Taiwan (272) and Indonesia (122). Nationally, the leading home countries for international students are India, China, South Korea, Japan and Canada.

The most popular destinations for Ohio State students to study abroad include United Kingdom, Italy, China, France, Germany and Spain. Nationally, the leading destinations for studying abroad are the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France and China.

The Open Doors 2009 report is released as part of the nationwide observance of International Education Week (Nov. 16-20), a joint initiative established by the US departments of Education and State.

At Ohio State, the week is celebrated with a number of activities sponsored by the Office of International Affairs, which oversees Ohio State’s study abroad programs and international student and scholar services.

The office also advances high quality international education programs, scholarships and service activities to promote global opportunities for Ohio State, its faculty, staff and students.

Brustein began early on path to internationalization

Shortly after John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States, the nation as a whole began to reach out across its borders to help developing areas around the world. It was in that setting that a young Connecticut high school student named William Brustein first started developing international relationships in education.

He participated in the formation and led a student group that began helping schools in third-world nations get needed supplies and other aid.

The group gained impressive notoriety — when basketball player Meadowlark Lemon heard of what had become a widespread effort started by a high school student, he brought his team, the Harlem Globetrotters, to play a benefit game to raise money.

Former Connecticut Sen. Abraham Ribicoff lauded the group’s efforts (which by then was helping schools in Nigeria, India and Peru) in a speech to the US Senate, calling out Brustein and the group as examples others around the nation could follow.

“From very early on, I’ve always been fascinated with other cultures,” Brustein said. “My father was a journalist, and from a young age, I had access to newspapers from around the world and I read them all the time.”

By the time he arrived as an undergrad at the University of Connecticut, he already was well advanced on the career path that has brought him to Ohio State as vice provost for global strategies and international affairs.

He participated in exchange programs as a student and professor in Italy, Germany, France and England and talked his way into a junior-year abroad program in France, even though at the time his French wasn’t quite good enough to qualify. He brought it up to speed in time and found himself participating in the French student uprising of 1968.

He’s since gone on to become one of the most respected and accomplished leaders in internationalizing higher education in the US, directing international programs at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before arriving at Ohio State.

He’s already made a mark here, helping to shape the report and recommendations of the President’s and Provost’s Council on Strategic Internationalization that has developed the university’s international goals.

Ohio State has afforded me the wonderful opportunity to focus on developing the initiatives,” he said. “Because we have Dieter Wanner to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Office of International Affairs, my charge is to spend my time developing these global strategies, how to make the best use of Ohio State’s depth, breadth and reach to fulfill the land-grant mission. It’s been a fascinating experience already and I’m excited about the things to come.”

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