The University at Buffalo remains an attractive place for students from across the world to go to undergraduate and graduate school.
Nearly one out of five students at UB is a native of another country and an increasing number of U.S. students are immigrants and refugees originally from somewhere else. Stephen Dunnett, vice provost for international education, says some of those students come to his international student operation to help with their transition to college.
New university data says UB ranks 21st in the country for international students, despite new regulations that cut into Iranian student registration. UB students come from 112 countries.
"We pride ourselves on that. Our president understands the issues and the problems that international students and scholars have when they go abroad, since he had that experience himself and I think that has made us more empathetic and more understanding about the issues of international students and what they face in the United States," Funnett says.
Dunnett says he recently visited India and met with UB grads who look back on their time in Western New York with fondness and with the friendships they made as students in this area.
"They all want to talk about one big snowstorm that they remember, but for them that was exciting and it was part of their experience," he says. "But it always comes across that they felt that Western New York was a warm and welcoming place. People were nice to them. They made friends here and their memories of UB and the community of which we are are all positive."