MSU leads nation in global outreach

MSU’s elite ranking among U.S. universities for study abroad participation and international student enrollment in a recent report did not surprise most university officials.

But one MSU history-setting rank caught the attention of Peter Briggs, the director for MSU’s Office for International Students and Scholars, or OISS.

The 4,757 international students who enrolled at MSU in 2008-09 ranked MSU as 10th best among private and public U.S. universities, according to the Open Doors 2009 Report on International Educational Exchange. Open Doors is an annual international education report released by the Institute of International Education, or IIE.

This is the first time MSU finished in the top 10 national rankings for the category. It also marked the first time the number of international undergraduate students enrolled at MSU exceeded the number of international graduate students, Briggs said.

“We weren’t surprised by (MSU’s high international student enrollment ranking),” Briggs said. “We have seen international student enrollment, especially at the undergraduate level, really climb over the last three years, but this is the first time MSU has been in the top 10 nationally.”

Peggy Blumenthal, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of IIE, said the institute does not see large shifts among the leading colleges and universities sending students abroad or hosting the most international students.

“MSU is a strong research institution with a global reputation, so it continues to attract top talent from around the world year after year,” Blumenthal said in an e-mail. “Also, (MSU) has been a leader for many years in sending U.S. students abroad.”

MSU sent 2,969 students on a study abroad program in the 2007-08 academic year — an increase of about 6 percent from 2006-07 and solidifying its No. 1 rank among public U.S. universities, according to Open Doors.

Brett Berquist, the executive director of the MSU Office of Study Abroad, said the program is one way to push forward MSU officials’ vision of becoming a world grant university.

“It really is part of the vision of Michigan State,” Berquist said. “International engagement has been a real cornerstone of MSU’s history and culture for many, many years. … If we want to graduate students who are prepared to take their place in the world, we need to offer them a number of paths preparing them for that. (The MSU Study Abroad program) is very central to MSU and will continue to be.”

Although MSU officials said they are pleased by the university’s rankings, MSU International Studies and Programs Dean Jeffrey Riedinger said the purpose of offering high-quality study abroad opportunities and accessibility is for the students.

“The most important thing about all this is that every one of our students, whether they are Michigan in origin or international in origin, will spend their professional lives in the decades ahead in a truly global, cultural environment and the more we can do to equip them for that reality, the better we will have served them,” Riedinger said.