INTO: Exclusive for who?
By: Kirsten Swanson
In November of 2010, Colorado State University began to brainstorm new ways to bring international students to its campus in Fort Collins, Colo.
A year and a half of university officials traveling around the world, contract negotiations and impressive events with impressive price tags culminated when Colorado State signed a contract with INTO, an international recruiting agency to make that brainstormed idea from 2010 a reality.
Colorado State’s agreement with INTO partnerships appears to be an ambitious step for the university’s international numbers. The contract requires the INTO partnership to recruit 350 international students to CSU the first year the program is implemented. In five years, CSU expects to raise the international population to over 1,000 students total.
According to the Colorado State institutional research fact book, the number of international students attending the university in 2012 totals 1,226. The majority of these students come from China and other Southeastern Asia countries.
In 2011, 1,133 international students reported studying at Colorado State. From 2011 to 2012, international student enrollment increased by only 93 students; that being 257 less than INTO promised to recruit.
While the INTO partnership strives to bring top international students from around the world to this exclusive Colorado State program, who really gets the most bang for their buck? - Colorado State or the international students who study there?
In November of 2010, Colorado State University began to brainstorm new ways to bring international students to its campus in Fort Collins, Colo.
A year and a half of university officials traveling around the world, contract negotiations and impressive events with impressive price tags culminated when Colorado State signed a contract with INTO, an international recruiting agency to make that brainstormed idea from 2010 a reality.
Colorado State’s agreement with INTO partnerships appears to be an ambitious step for the university’s international numbers. The contract requires the INTO partnership to recruit 350 international students to CSU the first year the program is implemented. In five years, CSU expects to raise the international population to over 1,000 students total.
According to the Colorado State institutional research fact book, the number of international students attending the university in 2012 totals 1,226. The majority of these students come from China and other Southeastern Asia countries.
In 2011, 1,133 international students reported studying at Colorado State. From 2011 to 2012, international student enrollment increased by only 93 students; that being 257 less than INTO promised to recruit.
While the INTO partnership strives to bring top international students from around the world to this exclusive Colorado State program, who really gets the most bang for their buck? - Colorado State or the international students who study there?
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The Journey
During an annual meeting of land-grant universities, Colorado State was invited to sit on a panel that discussed international recruitment strategies. Dr. Rick Miranda, Provost at Colorado State University, sat on this panel with President Frank.
Miranda said that on that panel was the University of Southern Florida.
“They started bragging about this new international partnership they had with INTO,” Miranda said. “That was when I first became aware of it.”
After listening to Southern Florida talk about the benefits they reaped from the INTO partnership, Miranda recalls Dr. Frank being very intrigued.
President Frank’s interest began a series of meetings and visits over the next 14 months.
Miranda said that Colorado State invited the principle counselors of the INTO program to come visit the campus in early 2011.
Those principles then returned in April of 2011 with more of their staff members. Miranda said he recalls facilitating meetings between the INTO staff and select CSU faculty and staff.
The travels did not just include INTO looking at Colorado State. Miranda said numerous trips were made around the country and the world in 2011 to see how the INTO partnership worked at other universities.
Miranda and a few staff members from his office went to Oregon State University in the summer of 2011. Oregon State is one of three American universities to partner with INTO.
The Oregon State partnership is in its infancy. That university signed its INTO contract in 2010. The office of the Provost and the President needed a better look at INTO.
“We wanted a perspective on the INTO program that the schools in the US couldn’t give us,” said Miranda.
So in the fall of 2011, Colorado State took its administration to England to look at three universities that had partnerships with INTO for more than five years.
After that trip, Miranda said the administration began looking at a serious contract agreement with the international recruiting agency.
During an annual meeting of land-grant universities, Colorado State was invited to sit on a panel that discussed international recruitment strategies. Dr. Rick Miranda, Provost at Colorado State University, sat on this panel with President Frank.
Miranda said that on that panel was the University of Southern Florida.
“They started bragging about this new international partnership they had with INTO,” Miranda said. “That was when I first became aware of it.”
After listening to Southern Florida talk about the benefits they reaped from the INTO partnership, Miranda recalls Dr. Frank being very intrigued.
President Frank’s interest began a series of meetings and visits over the next 14 months.
Miranda said that Colorado State invited the principle counselors of the INTO program to come visit the campus in early 2011.
Those principles then returned in April of 2011 with more of their staff members. Miranda said he recalls facilitating meetings between the INTO staff and select CSU faculty and staff.
The travels did not just include INTO looking at Colorado State. Miranda said numerous trips were made around the country and the world in 2011 to see how the INTO partnership worked at other universities.
Miranda and a few staff members from his office went to Oregon State University in the summer of 2011. Oregon State is one of three American universities to partner with INTO.
The Oregon State partnership is in its infancy. That university signed its INTO contract in 2010. The office of the Provost and the President needed a better look at INTO.
“We wanted a perspective on the INTO program that the schools in the US couldn’t give us,” said Miranda.
So in the fall of 2011, Colorado State took its administration to England to look at three universities that had partnerships with INTO for more than five years.
After that trip, Miranda said the administration began looking at a serious contract agreement with the international recruiting agency.
Bumps along the way
In January of 2012, one final trip for INTO staff and counselors was planned to Fort Collins.
It was during this trip, Miranda said, that the realities of the INTO partnership became real.
The university spent thousands of dollars on the nearly 50 INTO staff members. They put them up in the local Hilton hotel for two days. They took the staff into the mountains near Fort Collins to an authentic ranch for a private dinner party that included an open bar.
After all of that, however, speculation was still whispered through the staff at the Colorado State University Office of Admissions.
“CSU has 48 hours to sign this contract, so please make these folks feel welcome and try to answer any of their questions,” said CSU Admission Counselor Shelley Annameier to her staff of student ambassadors.
The INTO staff went on tours of the university, seeing different buildings where the program would be located.
In the final 12 hours of the contract validity window, CSU signed off on the deal with INTO. The partnership would begin in the fall 2012 semester.
How INTO works
In a press release shortly after CSU announced its new partnership with INTO, chairman Andrew Colin wrote, “We have experienced exceptional student performance at our two current U.S. partner universities, and we look forward to INTO CSU enjoying similar successes in the coming years.”
This success for international students comes in three different levels, though. Depending on how prepared an international student is decides which INTO level they are placed in.
Colorado State has implemented two main processes for INTO CSU students to get into the university.
Those international students that are prepared to be fully immersed in the language and rigor of a degree program at Colorado State are direct admits in the INTO program.
Few students, however, come to CSU as direct admits said Rick Miranda. Many more come through the “pathways” program.
Pathways programs are used to slowly integrate a student at a university. A student that is in a pathways program is not admitted, but is not prospective either.
At CSU, pathways programs are only used for international students who need some extra help, especially with language barriers.
“CSU has done a good job of welcoming those students and providing that segue between the pathways program and the degree programs,” said Laura Thornes, director of study abroad.
“This is the standard model for INTO partnerships around the world,” Miranda said. “The pathways program allows them to focus on language.”
The pathways program at CSU is considered “provisional admission.” Miranda said this means that the international students are not fully admitted to the university. A professional assessment at the end of the year determines whether they are ready to admit.
“Those [INTO CSU students] are required to take a certain number of English classes and degree-seeking classes,” Thornes explains. “And if they do well in both of those, they have a chance to be admitted to a degree program.”
In a statement right after the partnership was completed, INTO chairman Andrew Colin bragged about the kind of international student that INTO recruits to its other partner schools.
“Our centers provide talented and ambitious international students with inroads to leading universities in the US,” Colin wrote.
Those “talented and ambitious” students that arrive at CSU through the INTO pathways partnership are granted a shot at admission, never a guarantee.
International students with a price tag
Faced with crippling state budget cuts to higher education, Colorado State University President Dr. Tony Frank has committed to not raising tuition on students.
“We realized that we had to put some resources forward,” Miranda said about the money spent to partner with INTO.
Bringing more international students was something administration officials had looked at for years now.
“CSU had not been successful in the past when it came to international recruiting,” Miranda said.
Numbers from the 2008 and 2009 Fact Books show that CSU only attracted an average of 886 international students.
Signing a recruiting contract with INTO would guarantee international students would be enrolling at CSU. That assurance is something universities around the country need in the near future.
“Every ten years or so, we tend to see a decrease in the total number of admitted students at four-year institutions across the country,” former CSU admissions counselor Michael Crook said.
Crook studies population trends in his graduate degree program at Michigan State University. Research has found that a baby boom occurs every 10 years. That effects how many students there are in high schools to enroll in college.
“The enrollment numbers go through a big flux and then shrink down significantly,” Crook said.
When colleges do not have robust numbers of students to admit, a vital stream of revenue begins to dry up.
One way to keep that stream steady is to recruit students with a higher price tag attached.
Rick Miranda did say during an interview that international students provide a significant revenue stream for the university.
International students come with a big price tag for Colorado State. On average, an international student will pay nearly $32,000 per year to attend CSU, according to the 2011 financial accountability report put out by the university.
The future of the INTO partnership
In the first semester of the 2012-2013 school year, INTO has brought students from 15-20 different countries in the first year, according to Miranda.
“We are a destination for students looking to study in the United States,” Miranda said.
Colorado State does have a few selling points for international students, Miranda said. The university is a top-tier research school, consistently ranked in national polls in different programs.
The campus and the community Miranda believes is prepared for the number of international students they expect in the next five years.
“The experience here is a good one,” Miranda said. “We have spoken with community members and businesses so that they can expect what we do in the coming years.”
With this partnership still in its youth, and seeing poor enrollment numbers already (only a 93 student increase from 2011), the Colorado State administration holds its breath.
“We are pretty confident,” Miranda said. “We will continue the partnership to see what we can accomplish in the coming years.”
In January of 2012, one final trip for INTO staff and counselors was planned to Fort Collins.
It was during this trip, Miranda said, that the realities of the INTO partnership became real.
The university spent thousands of dollars on the nearly 50 INTO staff members. They put them up in the local Hilton hotel for two days. They took the staff into the mountains near Fort Collins to an authentic ranch for a private dinner party that included an open bar.
After all of that, however, speculation was still whispered through the staff at the Colorado State University Office of Admissions.
“CSU has 48 hours to sign this contract, so please make these folks feel welcome and try to answer any of their questions,” said CSU Admission Counselor Shelley Annameier to her staff of student ambassadors.
The INTO staff went on tours of the university, seeing different buildings where the program would be located.
In the final 12 hours of the contract validity window, CSU signed off on the deal with INTO. The partnership would begin in the fall 2012 semester.
How INTO works
In a press release shortly after CSU announced its new partnership with INTO, chairman Andrew Colin wrote, “We have experienced exceptional student performance at our two current U.S. partner universities, and we look forward to INTO CSU enjoying similar successes in the coming years.”
This success for international students comes in three different levels, though. Depending on how prepared an international student is decides which INTO level they are placed in.
Colorado State has implemented two main processes for INTO CSU students to get into the university.
Those international students that are prepared to be fully immersed in the language and rigor of a degree program at Colorado State are direct admits in the INTO program.
Few students, however, come to CSU as direct admits said Rick Miranda. Many more come through the “pathways” program.
Pathways programs are used to slowly integrate a student at a university. A student that is in a pathways program is not admitted, but is not prospective either.
At CSU, pathways programs are only used for international students who need some extra help, especially with language barriers.
“CSU has done a good job of welcoming those students and providing that segue between the pathways program and the degree programs,” said Laura Thornes, director of study abroad.
“This is the standard model for INTO partnerships around the world,” Miranda said. “The pathways program allows them to focus on language.”
The pathways program at CSU is considered “provisional admission.” Miranda said this means that the international students are not fully admitted to the university. A professional assessment at the end of the year determines whether they are ready to admit.
“Those [INTO CSU students] are required to take a certain number of English classes and degree-seeking classes,” Thornes explains. “And if they do well in both of those, they have a chance to be admitted to a degree program.”
In a statement right after the partnership was completed, INTO chairman Andrew Colin bragged about the kind of international student that INTO recruits to its other partner schools.
“Our centers provide talented and ambitious international students with inroads to leading universities in the US,” Colin wrote.
Those “talented and ambitious” students that arrive at CSU through the INTO pathways partnership are granted a shot at admission, never a guarantee.
International students with a price tag
Faced with crippling state budget cuts to higher education, Colorado State University President Dr. Tony Frank has committed to not raising tuition on students.
“We realized that we had to put some resources forward,” Miranda said about the money spent to partner with INTO.
Bringing more international students was something administration officials had looked at for years now.
“CSU had not been successful in the past when it came to international recruiting,” Miranda said.
Numbers from the 2008 and 2009 Fact Books show that CSU only attracted an average of 886 international students.
Signing a recruiting contract with INTO would guarantee international students would be enrolling at CSU. That assurance is something universities around the country need in the near future.
“Every ten years or so, we tend to see a decrease in the total number of admitted students at four-year institutions across the country,” former CSU admissions counselor Michael Crook said.
Crook studies population trends in his graduate degree program at Michigan State University. Research has found that a baby boom occurs every 10 years. That effects how many students there are in high schools to enroll in college.
“The enrollment numbers go through a big flux and then shrink down significantly,” Crook said.
When colleges do not have robust numbers of students to admit, a vital stream of revenue begins to dry up.
One way to keep that stream steady is to recruit students with a higher price tag attached.
Rick Miranda did say during an interview that international students provide a significant revenue stream for the university.
International students come with a big price tag for Colorado State. On average, an international student will pay nearly $32,000 per year to attend CSU, according to the 2011 financial accountability report put out by the university.
The future of the INTO partnership
In the first semester of the 2012-2013 school year, INTO has brought students from 15-20 different countries in the first year, according to Miranda.
“We are a destination for students looking to study in the United States,” Miranda said.
Colorado State does have a few selling points for international students, Miranda said. The university is a top-tier research school, consistently ranked in national polls in different programs.
The campus and the community Miranda believes is prepared for the number of international students they expect in the next five years.
“The experience here is a good one,” Miranda said. “We have spoken with community members and businesses so that they can expect what we do in the coming years.”
With this partnership still in its youth, and seeing poor enrollment numbers already (only a 93 student increase from 2011), the Colorado State administration holds its breath.
“We are pretty confident,” Miranda said. “We will continue the partnership to see what we can accomplish in the coming years.”