Departments
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Week of 6 February 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 19 |
Feature
Article
Case-by-case payment policy for Asian students in
financial bind
by Eric McHenry
Boston University has more international students than any other school in the United States, and nearly half of them represent East Asian countries. So the recent foundering of overseas financial markets has been a source of concern for BU students and administrators alike.
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Riaz Khan, associate vice
president for external programs at BU, says that
some students from East Asian countries are asking
to settle their accounts in installments.
Photo by Kalman Zabarsky
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"Boston University understands the financial strains that some of our students and their families may be facing, and we are committed to helping them deal with this difficult situation," Westling wrote.
Rather than adhering to a rigid policy, Student Accounting Services will tailor its assistance to each person's particular circumstances.
"We are working with students individually, assessing the extent to which it would be helpful to have a payment plan," says Provost and Dean of Arts and Sciences Dennis Berkey. "And we are making payment plans available to students with demonstrated need for them."
In some cases, the University will also help students find part-time employment to defray living expenses. Those seeking jobs through the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) are required under ordinary circumstances to make complete payment of tuition and fees before they are eligible for employment. But Steve Singer, senior associate comptroller, says the University permits students in "crisis situations" to work without having paid in full, provided they are appropriately registered and have arranged a payment program with Student Accounting Services.
Riaz Khan, associate vice president for external programs, expects short-term deferral to be a viable strategy for many students because what their families are facing is not insolvency but a temporary inability to access funds.
"So far," Khan says, "the students with whom we have spoken have indicated that they would like to pay in installments. They have not asked to withdraw or not to be charged tuition at all.
"Asians are very interested in the education of their children," he says. "They attach a lot of importance to it, and my feeling is that they will sacrifice other things first. They will not say to their children, 'No, you cannot have an education. Come back home.' "
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Market fluctuations in East Asia have demonstrably affected the enrollment levels at the Center for English Language and Orientation Programs (CELOP), which offers courses that promote proficiency in English for international students, many of whom are college-bound. Margot Valdivia, the center's director, says she's seen a significant decline in the numbers of both new and continuing Korean students. "We have half the number of Koreans this spring that we had last spring," she says. "We're down from 143 students to about 70." The loss of those students has some obvious effects on the center: fewer classes and less revenue. Valdivia says there has been little or no decrease from a year ago, however, in enrollment rates for students representing other Asian countries: Japan's and Taiwan's numbers have remained stable, and Thailand's have fallen negligibly. Enrollment rates for students from virtually all other parts of the globe are up slightly. That's a fortunate development, Valdivia says, and has "taken up some of the slack." BU administrators note that intensive, nondegree language programs such as those offered by CELOP are more likely to feel a squeeze from overseas financial turmoil because they don't require the sort of long-term commitment that students make to a four-year college or university. Reports from around the country seem to bear out this assessment. According to an article in the January 30 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Intensive English programs were among the first to experience sharp enrollment declines." |
"I've seen one student who is genuinely in a crisis situation," says Singer, "and I called that student's mother to see what we could do. We're giving the student what the circumstances require -- additional time to pay."
Available statistics suggest that the currency devaluation will not prevent a large number of students from attending BU. Those indicators, however, are by no means conclusive. Singer notes, for example, that as of January 29 there were 261 students from Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand who had not yet settled their accounts for the spring semester, whereas by January 27, 1997 -- long before the economic upheaval -- the number was 282.
"However," Singer says, "I believe that we're not comparing apples with apples there, because last year we started classes about a week later than we did this year."
Similarly, Khan says the total number of applications for admission from international students thus far is identical to the number from this time a year ago. Moreover, the number of applicants from Korea, whose economy has been among the hardest hit, seems unaffected. But it is unknown how many of those applications were submitted prior to the economic trouble. The truest measure of the devaluation's effect on enrollment will be the "show rate," the percentage of admitted applicants who actually come to BU in the fall.
While financial instability in their home countries does not seem to have forced students from the University in great numbers, it has raised anxieties among those whose families are affected.
"They're hanging in there," says Erwan Rodjio (SMG'98), president of the Indonesian Society. "They don't know what to do. Their parents can't send them money anymore. You can't even buy dollars in Indonesia right now. The bank has stopped issuing them."
There will be an informational meeting to discuss how the situation in East Asia may affect students' ability to meet tuition and living expenses on Wednesday, February 11, at 4 p.m. in Metcalf Hall on the second floor of the GSU. The meeting will be cosponsored by the Office of the Dean of Students, the Office of International Students and Scholars, and Student Accounting Services.