Getting Foreign Students Back to U.S.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001201

SIPDIS

FOR S, R, ECA, NEA FROM AMBASSADOR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OEXC KPAO SCUL OIIP XF KU STUDENT VISAS
SUBJECT: Getting Foreign Students Back to U.S.
Universities: What We're Doing and What We're Learning


1. Summary/Recommendations: Over the last six months,
Embassy Kuwait has begun a coordinated effort to reverse an
alarming decline in the number of Kuwaiti students choosing
U.S. colleges and universities. A significant percentage
of current government, oil industry and private sector
leadership in Kuwait hold U.S. degrees and hold the United
States in very high regard. We have a strategic interest in
making sure that the next generations of leaders in Kuwait
have experienced the excellent educational opportunities in
the U.S. And of equal importance, they will benefit from a
sustained formative period when they can get to know what
makes the U.S. tick, why Americans respond to the world in
the way we do, and how democracy works in action. The
United States also benefits from the personal interactions
between American students and their counterparts from the
Arab and Muslim world. In this report, we provide a
summary description of what we are doing to address the
problem of declining matriculations, and some of the
preliminary lessons we have learned. We welcome feedback
from other posts that are engaged in similar activities, as
well as from Washington agencies and educational
associations, such as NAFSA, AMIDEAST, IIE, and others.


2. Recommendations: We have two specific recommendations.
First, the Department, (perhaps co-sponsored by U.S.
educational bodies),should commission a market survey in
the GCC countries (and elsewhere if desired) to learn more
about what is influencing the choices students and parents
in the Gulf make regarding higher education. As a
government, we seem to be responding to this problem based
largely on anecdotal information, not specific and recent
data. Second, we recommend that the Secretary make a major
address on the topic at a U.S. university. Secretary Rice's
background in academia brings a new dimension to our
efforts, and her personal involvement would add considerably
to the visibility and credibility of efforts to bring more
students to the U.S.
(End Summary/Recommendations)

The Problem
--------------


3. Academic institutions and the media have been
highlighting the loss of foreign students for some time. In
the fall of 2004, Embassy Kuwait recognized that the problem
in Kuwait was even worse than we imagined and that the
precipitous drop in the number of Kuwaitis studying in U.S.
colleges and universities needed to be addressed in a
concerted fashion. The 35% drop in Kuwait enrolments in the
U.S. since 9/11/2001, greater than the decline in Saudi
Arabia, was alarming for two principal reasons: 1) the loss
of the immediate/intensive exposure of young Kuwaitis to
America and Americans, and 2) the long-term loss to the
United States of a cadre of leaders in government, business,
education and other sectors who receive not only a high
quality education, but who understand American culture and
the way Americans respond to the world. Given the gravity
of the situation, we didn't have the luxury of sitting back
and studying the problem before attacking it. So to a great
extent we are learning as we go.


What We're Doing
--------------


4. In summary form, below are steps we have taken to
encourage more students to study in the U.S.:

-- Under the leadership of the Ambassador, formed an
interdisciplinary group within the mission to develop and
implement actions. The Cultural Attach is the Executive
Director of the Group, with participation by the DCM, CONS,
FCS, PD, Office of Military Cooperation, POL, and ECON.


-- Developed a stronger working relationship with AMIDEAST
Kuwait, which is the designated educational testing and
counseling agent in Kuwait. AMIDEAST personnel help us
diagnose the problems, provide advice on strategy and help
in program implementation. We cooperate closely with
AMIDEAST in orientation and counseling programs.

-- Developed links with the National Union of Kuwaiti
Students. This group, particularly its U.S. branch, is an
excellent source of advice. The U.S. branch is also media-
savvy, using their winter holiday vacation in Kuwait to host
events, call on ministers, and give interviews. A lunch
hosted by the Ambassador for them received excellent
coverage, as did a speech by the Ambassador at one of their
events.

-- Worked the press on the issue. We boiled down the
Ambassador's speech to the Kuwaiti students into a long op-
ed, which was carried in every daily.

-- Upgraded our Embassy website coverage of student issues,
including visa info and counseling information. We also
made a laminated card with web-based resources for more
information on "Studying in the USA," that we distribute
widely.

-- We opened an e-mail account, kwtstudyintheus@state.gov,
for feedback from the public on student issues. (This
account has not received as much input as we expected. We
probably could market it better but it may not be a
particularly useful tool for feedback.)

-- Started a list of distinguished Kuwaiti alumni of
American universities and are including an on-line
registration form on our public web site for alumni.

-- Started to encourage alumni chapters. This has been
slow going in Kuwait, where the social life focuses more on
families and friends than on affinity or professional
organizations.

-- Participated in U.S. university recruiting events.
Working with FCS and AMIDEAST, the Ambassador, PD officers
and consular officers have participated in these events that
have received good public coverage.

--- Expanded our Consular outreach to prospective students.
Vice Consuls brief students and parent groups at recruiting
events and other educational fora. This has been very
successful in dispelling some of the myths about the
difficulties in obtaining student visas.

-- Focused more attention on English language programs for
youth. Besides addressing the key issue of attaining
adequate TOEFL scores to study in U.S. schools, offering
English language training affords an opportunity to discuss
concerns about study in the U.S. (Our English language
program is a key part of our overall outreach program to
young Kuwaitis.)

-- Lobbied Kuwaiti officials to direct more scholarship
students to the U.S. This has been an uphill battle, as the
GOK is consciously diversifying choices for students and
additional universities are opening in Kuwait and other GCC
states. We are still pushing on a request requests to the
Education Ministry for access for our educational advisors
to offer voluntary presentations in local public high
schools. AMIDEAST is already active in the elite private
schools.

-- The Office of Military Cooperation - Kuwait (OMC-K),in
conjunction with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency
(DSCA),proposed that the Kuwait Chief of Staff of the
Military enable Kuwaiti students enrolled in U.S. colleges
to participate in Reserve Officer Training Courses (ROTC)
offered at U.S. colleges. The offer to Kuwait is for Kuwait
students in the U.S. to be able to attend all of the
U.S. ROTC requirements including the summer programs with
U.S. military service components that U.S. students do.
Upon completion of college and the ROTC curriculum, Kuwait
would recognize the U.S. ROTC training by commissioning the
Kuwaiti as an officer in the Kuwaiti Military. This is the
first time such an initiative has been offered to a foreign
country. At present, there is interest by the Kuwait Chief
of Staff, but the offer has not yet been accepted.

What We're Learning
--------------


5. Many of the "lessons learned" below appear somewhat
obvious, but they weren't obvious to us until we started to
attack the problem and deal more systematically with the
different actors. We still have considerable knowledge gaps
in regard to motivating students to choose the U.S.

-- "Visa Fear" can be overcome. We believe we have turned
the corner in convincing people that it is not inordinately
difficult for qualified applicants to apply for and receive
a student visa. This has been achieved through our outreach
program and by giving priority to applicants for student
visas. Clearance procedures have improved steadily in the
last two years and wait times are down dramatically.

-- There is still some worry about treatment of Arabs in
the U.S. Parents don't want their children put at risk of
intrusive treatment at U.S. immigration points or
discrimination where they study. Even some Kuwaitis
educated in the U.S. have shared with post their concern
about sending their children to study in the U.S. because of
fear of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment in America.
Talking to Kuwaitis who are studying in the U.S. has
revealed this to be a minor problem, but the few negative
experiences are the ones that are broadcast and amplified in
the small and talkative Kuwaiti society. This misperception
needs to be addressed continuously, stressing that the U.S.
welcomes Arabs and Muslims as students and visitors, and
providing examples of their success in the U.S.

-- Meet the Competition. The options for students are
expanding quickly. A young Kuwaiti can now choose between
two universities in Kuwait with American curricula: the
American University of Kuwait and the Gulf University of
Science and Technology, (associated with the University of
Missouri-St. Louis),as well as an Australian college.
They are also attracted to the American University in nearby
Sharjah, UAE. In addition, the UK, Australia and others are
perceived as easier to get into (no TOEFL or application
fees in England) and these countries are eagerly recruiting
in Kuwait using the selling points of easier admissions and
visa processes.

-- U.S. schools are not in the market enough. Very few
U.S. universities are taking advantage of FCS and privately
managed educational recruiting missions to the Middle East.
A recent FCS-assisted show had a considerable number of
participants at its first stop in Dubai, but the numbers
dropped off sharply for the second stop in Kuwait. It
turned out the private firm organizing the events had
subsidized the travel to Dubai. In addition, we have seen
almost no evidence of U.S. institutions making use of
Kuwaiti alumni for recruiting purposes.

-- The best recruiters are current students or recent
grads. The recruiting effectiveness of a person in or close
to the peer group of aspiring students is exponentially
higher than that of an embassy officer or university
official. We see this phenomenon over and over again at
recruiting events.

-- There may be a big summer school market. Most Kuwaiti
students do not come home from the U.S. to Kuwait in the
summer. The heat deters them, so many attend summer classes
and vacation in the U.S. We believe there may also be an
untapped market for summer-only students, who would then be
an ideal pool of potential candidates for subsequent full-
time study in the U.S. Most of the summer students now are
in English language programs, but this could be expanded
with some good marketing.

-- PD educational programming ought to be continued, in
part as a feeder system into U.S. higher education. ECA
programs such as ACCESS (in-country English language
programs for non-elite youth),YES (one year of high school
in the U.S.) and PLUS (third and fourth year of
undergraduate study in the U.S.) are ideal programs whose
participants would desire and qualify for higher education
in the U.S. Anecdotal evidence indicates that YES alumni,
for example, desire to continue their college or university
education in the U.S.

-- There is a need for more promotional materials and
marketing. Private global media resources and Hi Magazine,
Radio Sawa and Al-Hurra could be utilized for additional
marketing or for features on studying in the U.S. Also, IIP
and the Office of Broadcast Services may be ideal avenues
for obtaining more high-quality and easy-to-use promotional
materials on studying in the U.S. An attractive glossy
magazine or brochure on the topic in Arabic and English for
distribution, as well as a broadcast-quality documentary
video in Arabic on "University Life in America" for
broadcast on local and regional television, would be welcome
additional tools for our on-the-ground efforts at increasing
the numbers of Kuwaitis studying in the U.S.
LEBARON