Penn State has a strong international presence on campus – and rightly so, as there has been a recent spike in the enrollment of foreign students all over the U.S.

According to Penn State Admissions, there are 4,011 international graduate and undergraduate students currently enrolled at Penn State. This number coincides well with the fact that  international students enrolling in a U.S. school has jumped for the first time from 8.3% in 2005/06 to 15.8% in 2008/09.

There is a total of 200,460 international students enrolled in U.S. schools today, according to the Institute of International Education. The increased enrollment over the past two years has gotten higher than Willie Nelson’s tour bus in these three countries:

Vietnam: 46.2% increase
Nepal: 29.6% increase
Saudi Arabia: 28.2% increase

Pennsylvania ranks seventh on the list of top U.S. states hosting international students with 27,529, a 5.5% increase over 2007/08. Penn State and its 19 Commonwealth Campuses was most likely a contributor to the PA increase.

The mixed bag of nationalities at Penn State and all over America will grow if these numbers keep trending up. Now if only the stock market would do the same.

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