Study Ranks Harvard 11th in Foreign Students

Despite an ongoing effort to "internationalize" the University, the percentage of foreign students at Harvard remains steady at 11th in the nation, according to a national report on 2904 colleges and universities released last week.

The study, conducted by the New York-based Institute of International Education, found a 2.9 percent increase nationwide in foreign enrollment. The percentage of foreign students in Harvard programs increased from 11.7 to 12.6 percent, the study found.

Harvard officials yesterday said they were not surprised by the University's national ranking. But several expressed hope that the number of foreign students would soon rise as a result of the internationalization effort.

"This is nothing earth shattering," said Seamus P. Malin '62, director of the Harvard International Office. "We would want to be in the top 10, but we must progress slowly. We can't go in great leaps."

A record high of 366,354 foreign students are now enrolled in U.S. schools, the study found. A total of 2197 are enrolled at Harvard.

During the past 10 years, President Derek C. Bok has repeatedly urged institutions of higher education to broaden their focus to help students cope with a increasingly interdependent world.

Malin said that the call for an international University is causing all nine Harvard faculties to examine themselves closely to find ways of becoming more receptive to other cultures.

More than one-third of the students Harvard classes as "foreign" come from Canada, and an additional one- third are U.S. residents. Some administratorshave expressed concern that the remainder drawstoo heavily from members of political and economicelites in underdeveloped countries.

"It is important that Harvard play a strongrole in having varied foreign students to educateour students," said Dean of Admissions andFinancial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67."Undergraduates, after all, learn from fellowundergraduates."

Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence saidadministrators are discussing whether to increasethe number of foreign students at the College by3.5 percent of the total enrollment. He emphasizedthat such a program would have to be implementedgradually.

"The way it would be done would be to let theCollege grow, so that you wouldn't be diminishingthe size of the American group, or any other groupfor that matter," Spence said.

In an attempt to attract more foreign students,Fitzsimmons said, Harvard officials are trying toincrease the frequency of their visits to othercountries. He said the University is also tryingto organize alumni who live abroad to help "spreadthe word."

Fitzsimmons said that the College's efforts arealready showing some positive results. The numberof foreign students in the Class of 1993 increasedby about 150 from the 134 enrolled in the previousclass, he said. The number of foreign earlyapplicants increased 66.5 percent over the pastyear, from 48 to 81, he said.

"Over the past two to three years, the trend isin the right direction," Fitzsimmons said.

Joseph R. Palmore contributed to thereporting of this story.