Over the past five years, the enrollment for international graduate students at Grand Valley State University has increased by 60 percent.

Jeff Potteiger, dean of The Graduate School at GVSU, said with the attendance of international students comes a cultural and learning experience that benefits the entire GVSU community.

“It’s an opportunity to meet someone who is maybe not like you, who has a different outlook than you do,” Potteiger said. “I just think that can be very rich and very rewarding for both the international students who come to Grand Valley as well as us who are at Grand Valley.”

In the fall of 2012, 96 international students were enrolled in the graduate program. In the fall of 2016, that number of students had increased to 162.

“I think there has been an increase in part because we are a very open and welcoming educational community,” Potteiger said. “I think Grand Valley does a fabulous job of making people feel welcome, and so I think it’s one of those situations whereby word-of-mouth spreads.”

Shinian Wu, professor and director of the graduate program for applied linguistics, said GVSU President Thomas Haas visiting Asia, as well as other faculty members, had a big impact on recruiting international students.

“I personally go (to Asia) to deliver lectures, to talk about Grand Valley’s programs, and students become interested,” Wu said.

GVSU has made it a priority to increase the number of international students. At the graduate level, the majority of recruitment is done by graduate program directors.

“Our graduate program directors are always looking for international students who show an interest in coming to GVSU,” Potteiger said. “We make those connections, and we make the students feel welcome. We also have really good graduate programs that we can offer the students.”

One of these programs is the applied linguistics program. Though it only started last fall, the curriculum dates back to 1999. It has since been revived with an international audience in mind to prepare students to work both home and abroad.

Out of the 15 graduate students currently enrolled in the applied linguistics program, eight are international students from Nigeria, China and Saudi Arabia. Wu hopes the program will become even more diverse this upcoming fall semester with students applying from Chile, Argentina and Vietnam.

“We have a very good program, and our curriculum is near the international standards,” Wu said.

Yuan Sui is a graduate student in the applied linguistics program. Before coming to GVSU, she attended Xi’an International Studies University, a foreign language university in China.

Sui said she appreciated the professional nature of her courses, as well as the encouragement from her professors.

“I like everything here (at Grand Valley),” Sui said, “I like the environment, the buildings, the apartments, and our courses and professors.”

Several years ago, the university invited international recruiting agents to campus. Since then, Potteiger said, 15 have come to visit.

“When they come here, they are just amazed at what we have to offer as a university, not only in our programs, but our physical plant, Grand Rapids as a community, West Michigan as a region,” Potteiger said. “They are just amazed at all the opportunities that are available for these students.”