Iowa State has a record international student enrollment this year. Altogether 3,797 international students study at Iowa State. Of that number, 361 have enrolled as freshmen, the highest number in Iowa State history as well.

Many of them have heard of Iowa State through international recruitment.

The Office of Admissions employs two international recruiters who go overseas on a regular basis to advertise Iowa State in other countries.

“Historically speaking we have always considered ourselves an international university,” said Patricia Parker, assistant director of Admissions Operations and Policy. “We had pragmatic areas that were not offered overseas, and so [even before international recruitment] Iowa State had internationals who studied in fields like agriculture or mechanics.”

Parker said Iowa State was one of the first universities to start international recruitment. Students are interested in coming to the United States for a variety of reasons including competitive systems in their home countries or a lack of space in their universities.

Afifah Abdul-Rahim, international ambassador from Singapore and senior in animal science, described the situation in her country similarly.

“We do not have a vet program in Singapore,” Abdul-Rahim said. “People who want to become vets have to venture abroad.”

In Asian countries like Singapore, Taiwan and Korea, demands of too many students often cannot be meet, so the Admissions Office concentrated on these territories at the beginning of international recruitment, Parker said. As markets around the world grew and declined, more territories were added.

“We focus on a lot of different territories today,” Parker said. “We try to ride the wave, and find it before anybody else does.”

Sometimes the students lead the recruiters to such new countries, Parker said. The past year the office added a trip to Africa for the first time. An increasing amount of inquires from Vietnamese students a couple of years ago caught the recruiters’ attention and persuaded them to start to visit Vietnam as well.

“But still you have to have your ear on the ground so to speak,” Parker said. “You have to do a lot of research and our recruiters have to talk to a lot of people in all the countries, people at embassies, at schools or even with fellow travelers to gain information.”

Recruiters will typically visit two to three schools during the day — if possible a national, an American and an international school.

“In the evening they will be at a college fair to talk to more students and their parents and to send them links and brochures that would interest them,” Parker said. “The students and parents especially like this because they can talk to an actual staff member in person.”

Raghul Ethiraj, international ambassador form India and sophomore in aerospace engineering, said he agrees.

“It really helped me to talk to [the recruiterrs],” Ethiraj said. “Ann Gogerty, one of the two recruiters, gave me a complete break down on how much studying at Iowa State is going to cost, how you can afford that, how much you can work and what they will pay you. I really liked that I could make sure that Iowa State was worth it.”

Interviews can be scheduled as well. Students and parents are attracted to that because they can talk to a real person and the recruiters can, through conversation, identify if a student would be a good fit for Iowa State, Parker said. Characteristics such as independence, a will to engage and an academic performance above average are considered crucial for international students.

“Generally students who come here are serious about their education,” Parker said. “They are looking for a place where they can concentrate, engage and see the real America.”

Both Ethiraj and Abdul-Rahim said they enjoy Iowa State.

“I feel such an attachment to the school, and I do all I can to give that back,” Abduhl-Rahim said.