SEATTLE — Washington state is among the top states attracting international students to its colleges, according to new data released Monday by the Institute of International Education.
The number of international students studying in Washington state has grown by 11 percent between the 2011-12 school year and the 2012-13 school year.
About 25,500 international students studied in Washington state during the 2012-13 school year, making up 7 percent of the state’s college population, The Seattle Times reported.
Only three other states—Massachusetts, New York and Delaware—plus the District of Columbia drew a higher percentage of its college population from overseas.
The largest number of international students is studying at the University of Washington. Washington State University comes in second, followed by Seattle Central College, Green River Community College in Auburn and Edmonds Community College.
In recent years, as state financing for higher education has decreased, Washington’s universities and community colleges have welcomed international students, in part, as a boost to their budgets because they pay as much as three times the tuition that in-state students pay.
“A lot of people say they’re crowding out local students, but most often this isn’t the case,” said Peggy Blumenthal, senior counselor to the IIE’s president, Allan Goodman. Rather, “universities are using international enrollments to keep their budgets whole.”
