A Home (Far) Away From Home

Many American universities take great pride in the ethnic diversity of their student population, but there is so much more to diversity than one’s ethnicity. A population can be diverse from many other demographic differences, including sexual orientation, family size, political affiliation, religion, culture, and income level. These differences create an engaging learning environment in universities because exposure to other cultures and viewpoints from one’s own typically helps people to be more informed and understanding.

According to the Institute of International Education (IIE) in 2018, the number of international students in the United States reached a high of 1.09 million, increasing diversity at American universities. Specifically, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has followed a similar trend.

Below is a graph I created using information from UNC Office of Institutional Research and Assessment and Microsoft Excel.

Since Fall 2007, the percentage of international undergraduate students has increased from 1.4 percent to 3.5 percent of total enrollment. Although seemingly small, this has a large impact, especially on other undergraduate students due to UNC-Chapel Hill’s admissions policies.

In 1986, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors adopted a policy which limits the enrollment of out-of-state students in the entering freshman class to no more than 18 percent. With a recent record number of international students applying to UNC-Chapel Hill, more Americans will be competing with international students for their place within the small out-of-state enrollment percentage. This raises a question of whether a cap on the enrollment percentage is ultimately a positive policy.

According to UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 2019’s entering class alone included students from 54 different countries, providing the university with more diversity in culture, language, religion, and more!

Below is an infographic I created.

Karlijn Goes is a freshman international undergraduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is from the Netherlands and is a member of the university’s NCAA Division I field hockey team, which won the National Championship in an undefeated season this year. The 2019 field hockey team rostered six international undergraduate students this year from the Netherlands, Germany, and England.

Goes spoke about what it is like to be an international student as well as what she feels that she and students similar to her contribute to the diversity of her classrooms and her team.