{"84181":{"#nid":"84181","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Student Diversity Continues to Rise at Tech: Most International Freshmen Ever; Growth in Georgia Students","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Georgia Tech freshmen hit the campus on August 18, there will be more international students among them than ever before and a significant increase in freshmen from Georgia.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite tough new federal regulations on foreign students, 104 international students are expected to enroll in Tech\u0027s 2003-2004 freshman class, which is a 57.5 percent increase over last year and the largest in Tech\u0027s history. Georgia Tech already boasts the largest number of international students in the state, with 2,825 enrolled in Tech\u0027s undergraduate and graduate programs for 2002-2003. The increase comes as a pleasant surprise to Sheila Schulte, associate director for international students and scholar services at Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We weren\u0027t sure if the new rules on student visas would deter students from applying. It\u0027s nice to see that the high caliber of our reputation was able to outweigh any difficulties they might have with the visa process,\u0022 said Schulte.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAttracting top-notch international students is vital for a university that wants to increase diversity on campus, said Ingrid Hayes, interim director of the Office of Undergraduate Admission. \u0022Diversity doesn\u0027t just apply to African-American, Hispanic-American and Native American students. Having a truly diverse campus means that you have students from all over the world, with vastly different backgrounds contributing their ideas, culture and ways of viewing the world to your campus. This greatly enhances the education students get at Tech and gives them the skills to prosper in the business world, which is becoming more internationally focused every day.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe majority of international freshmen come from India, with China and South Korea tying for the number two spot, followed by Canada and Pakistan.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECoupled with the increasing number of international students at Tech is a dramatic rise in the number of students taking foreign language courses.  Courses in Arabic, scheduled to debut this fall, are already incredibly popular as are Korean classes, which began last fall. The boom in foreign language courses is occurring despite the fact that Tech has no foreign language requirement.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETech students this year will also see an influx of international television channels.  The Georgia Tech Cable Network (GTCN) is adding 24 international channels to its line-up. The channels will feature 13 different foreign languages including Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Japanese and French. There will also be eight Spanish language channels.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn informal survey conducted by GTCN suggests their international line-up is larger than those of the cable systems serving the top 25 universities for international students.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe channels will be available to students living on campus and to anyone in the Institute\u0027s academic buildings. Mark Adelman, manager of GTCN, said it was Tech\u0027s growing population of international students and the rising interest in foreign languages and international affairs that led the network to offer so many international channels. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These channels won\u0027t only be of interest to international students. We think they\u0027ll be valuable to professors in the classroom and to all students who are interested in learning foreign languages or about other cultures,\u0022 said Adelman.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo meet the growing demand for international diversity, Tech is beginning to raise money for a new 20,000-square-foot International House. The new facility would house the Office of International Education, student groups and activities, and a kitchen. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022What we hope to do is to have the International House serve as a place where we provide a bridge between cultures for international students and students from the United States who become involved. It will be a place to share ideas and learn from one another,\u0022 said Howard Rollins, director of the Office of International Education.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETech\u0027s diversity continues to rise among other groups as well.  The number of Asian freshmen (399) is expected to grow 12 percent, while the 26.4 percent gains Hispanic freshmen made last fall are holding steady.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStaying Close to Home\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMore students are sticking close to home. Tech expects 1,425 freshmen to enroll from Georgia high schools, an increase of 9.2 percent compared to last fall.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe weak economy may have something to do with students choosing to stay closer to home, said Deborah Smith, vice provost of Enrollment Services. \u0022People aren\u0027t sure whether or not they can afford to pay out-of-state tuition and are uncertain if the economy will get better,\u0022 she said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMoney being more of an issue, 12.4 percent fewer freshmen from outside of Georgia are expected to enroll this fall compared to last fall.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite the changing demographics, there is one thing that hasn\u0027t changed in Tech\u0027s freshman class: the academic quality of the students.  Average SAT scores and grade-point averages of the freshman class are about the same as last year\u0027s averages. Nationally, Tech\u0027s SAT scores are the second-highest among public research universities, according to the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings.  Tech\u0027s SAT scores rank 25th overall.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFall 2003 Freshman Class Quick Facts\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tNumber of freshmen expected to enroll - 2,254\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tAverage high school GPA - 3.74\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tAverage SAT - 1339\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tNumber of 1600 SAT scores - 6 freshmen with 1600 test scores; 4 on the  same test date; 2 of these were ACT; 1 has 1600 on the SAT and a perfect score on the ACT.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tAverage age - 18 years\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tMost popular first name:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n            female - Amanda (17)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n            male - Michael (70)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tMost popular last name:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n            female - Lee (9)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n            male - Smith (14)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tMost popular majors:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n            Undecided Engineering (487)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n            Computer Science (213)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n            Aerospace Engineering (212)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\t43 states and Puerto Rico represented.  No freshmen from Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, North and South Dakota, and West Virginia.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tTop 5 foreign countries:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n             India (42)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n             Pakistan (7)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n             Korea, Republic of (South) (6)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n             Canada (6)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n             Columbia (5)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tThere are 5 sets of twins.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tThere are 98 freshmen who have multiple legacies and 481 with at least one legacy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tThere are 900 high schools represented.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tFifty-two percent (1,192) of the freshman class submitted a Web application.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u00b7\tThere are 54 National Merit Finalists (UMF) and 20 National Achievement Finalists (UAF).\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"When Georgia Tech freshmen hit the campus on August 18, there will be more international students among them than ever before and a significant increase in freshmen from Georgia.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2003-07-01 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:06","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2003-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2003-06-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"84191":{"id":"84191","type":"image","title":"Tech Tower","body":null,"created":"1449178102","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:28:22","changed":"1475894704","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:04"}},"media_ids":["84191"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}