1. NON-CITIZEN STUDENTS AND GRADUATES IN JSU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING.
- Author
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WHALIN, ROBERT W. and QING PANG
- Subjects
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CITIZENSHIP , *ENGINEERING students , *LEGAL status of foreign students , *ENGINEERING education , *STUDENT adjustment - Abstract
This paper examines the citizenship composition and academic performance of the JSU School of Engineering student body relative to citizens and foreign nationals. From academic year 2005-06 to 2011-12, the percentage of BS degrees awarded to non-citizen students increased from 2.3% to 16%. This implies a substantial increase in non-citizen students in the School of Engineering and calls for additional investigation of the academic performance of noncitizen students relative to citizen students. The citizenship composition of School of Engineering students was examined from various perspectives including total enrollment, first time freshman enrollment and percentage of BS degrees awarded to foreign nationals. The data for JSU are evaluated with comparable data for peer HBCUs and all US universities with ABET accredited engineering programs. These data revealed one dramatic trend. Undergraduate enrollment of foreign nationals in US engineering programs has risen steadily and continuously during the last seven years (from 5.2% in 2005 to 7.0% in 2011) while the total US undergraduate engineering enrollment has increased by 27.5% (from 398,628 in 2005 to 508,026 in 2011). This unequivocally implies that BS engineering degrees awarded to foreign nationals will increase substantially during the next 5 years. Further analyses were conducted to investigate the college readiness of incoming non-citizen students (indicated by their ACT/SAT scores), 1 year and 2 year retention rates and graduation rates. Those data were compared with analogous statistical data for the overall School of Engineering student body in order to help evaluate the performance of non-citizen students relative to citizen students. These analyses revealed that our foreign national students were better prepared for college and had substantially better retention rates and graduation rates (69% to 57%, 61% to 37%, and 44% to 18% for 1-year retention, 2-year retention and graduation with an engineering degree respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013