By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Mary Hammond, center left, coordinator of UH's Hawaii
English Language program, is looking to diversify the foreign
students at UH to offset the effects of the Asian economic crisis.
UH Asian student
enrollment drops
Asia's economic crisis
By Susan Kreifels
has hit UHhard, as many
students can no longer
afford to study here
Star-BulletinThe University of Hawaii-Manoa has seen the number of Asians, the mainstay of its international students, drop steadily for two years.
As it started to recruit in Asia last year, economies crashed, so UH's Mary Hammond looked far south of the U.S. border.
Next month, Hammond is headed to Brazil. The world's eighth-largest economy has become one of the fastest-growing sources of international students. Some private Hawaii schools are recruiting there already.
"The mainland has already picked up on this, and a lot of programs are making up losses there and in other South American countries," said Hammond, coordinator of UH's Hawaii English Language Program.
She'll also be carrying information on UH degree programs. "I said, 'Look Hawaii, let's pick up the spoons.' "
Officials from several Hawaii schools say the number of Asian students dropped last semester due to the economic crisis, but not as dramatically as expected. A survey of U.S. schools with the largest numbers of students from hardest-hit Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand showed decreases of less than 10 percent last spring. However, educators expect the real crunch to come this fall.
Regardless of the economy, officials here agree that Hawaii schools need to recruit to compete, and not just in Asia but worldwide.
Student spending habits
The benefits go far beyond school budgets. Last year international students spent $76.4 million in Hawaii -- income the strapped state can ill afford to lose.That year also saw the number of international students drop 5.4 percent to 5,490, while national figures grew slightly.
Some private Hawaii schools were recruiting in Europe and South America before Asia's crisis, and they are hoping students from there will make up Asian losses.
"We didn't want to put all our eggs in one basket, so we started marketing in different countries two years ago," said Stacy Shiroma, director of Intercultural Communications College.
Shiroma's language school, which relies mainly on Japanese students, has an enrollment of about 275, down 30 from last year. Switzerland and Brazil send the second and third most students.
Shiroma heeded lessons from the state's tourism industry. "Japan cannot sustain everybody. If we didn't expand, we would have been in big trouble."
International recruitment
Hawaii Pacific University has recruited worldwide for years. Its number of international students grew 8 percent last fall to 2,397. Asians grew 2 percent to 1,841.Nancy Ellis, HPU's vice president and dean of student support services, said Asia's problems have slowed growth overall, but she expects students from Europe and South America to increase.
"If you want international students, you have to get yourself known," Ellis said.
At UH, the number of Asians has dropped each semester for the last two years, starting before the economic crisis. In spring 1996, 1,288 attended. By spring 1998, that fell to 1,031 -- almost 20 percent total.
Mainland numbers steady
Across the country, the number of Asian students has remained relatively constant for the last two years. Total international students at UH has dropped 18.7 percent.Educators here attribute slower growth in the United States to heavy competition from other countries such as Australia and Canada, which hope to tap more of the lucrative market. Last year international students spent $7.2 billion in the United States.
A stronger dollar, tighter U.S. visa and immigration regulations compared to other countries, and less welcome generally from the U.S. government have hurt as well.
At UH specifically, tuition has increased for international students, as has local competition. Officials note, however, that UH entrance requirements are also stiffer. And the budget has been slashed and stretched.
But June Naughton, director of UH's International Student Services, places most of the blame on a lack of international recruitment. The East-West Center's smaller Asian presence has hurt too. "I don't think we're as well known abroad as we should be," she said. "Information is outdated."
Asian focus in recruiting
The university started recruiting in Asia last year and plans another trip this fall. David Robb, UH director of admissions and records, said recruiters will be focusing on Hong Kong and Singapore, which have escaped some of the region's turmoil, and Malaysia, where he still sees potential for community college students.While recruiting has become a priority, tight budgets mean moving slowly and cautiously. For now UH will stick to Asia, part of a strategic plan to make the university the region's premier school. But Robb said UH needs to recruit heavily and in more places.
"If you carve out a single market and don't pay attention to what's happening in the world, the single market can be gone. There are lots of lessons we can learn from Hawaii's economic history."
Robert Lees, secretary general of the Pacific Basin Economic Council who just returned from South America, said that region has become a good target for Hawaii.
"We can't be seen just as the gateway to Asia," Lees said. "We need to consider ourselves in the center of the world."
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Hirwan Zubir decided to stay at the UH-Manoa to finish
the last two years of his degree program despite his family's
financial hardship and request to return home to Malaysia.
To pay his way through school, he is working at the UH
Student Services Center, applying for grants and loans,
putting off trips home and looking for a full-time job.
Some international students
working to pay for school'It's very devastating and very scary,
By Susan Kreifels
like your future has been crushed'
Star-BulletinHirwan Zubir decided to tough it out on his own after his parents told him to return to Malaysia this summer because they could no longer afford to pay for his Hawaii education.
Zubir is determined to finish his last two years at the University of Hawaii "with a little luck and a lot of hard work." That means applying for grants and loans, working 40 hours a week in addition to studies, and putting off trips home until he's finished.
"It's very devastating and very scary, like your future has been crushed," said Zubir, who knows at least three Malaysian students who have returned home because they couldn't afford school.
Other international students are going through the same problems because of Asia's economic turmoil. Roughly two-thirds of them are privately supported, and families can no longer afford to educate their children overseas.
The U.S. government, private foundations and schools themselves are trying to help. Congress recently passed an interim measure allowing students from the hardest-hit countries to work full time and study part time. Zubir has started the visa paperwork and is job-hunting.
He received $5,000 from a new mainland loan program developed to help Asian students and a $1,600 grant from another program.
June Naughton, director of International Student Services at UH, said the university is being flexible for "humanitarian reasons" by allowing some Asian students to be charged lower tuition fees even if they don't meet the required grade point average. They also can defer payment instead of paying up front.
Hawaii Pacific University allows some students to pay fees in installments instead of lump sums, said Nancy Ellis, HPU's vice president and dean of student support services.
Yangkwan Kil from Seoul said he needs all the help he can get. Like Zubir, the UH graduate student decided to make it on his own when his father said he could no longer support Kil.
Educators said South Korea, one of the fastest-growing sources of international students before the crisis, isn't sending many students. The government has called on its citizens to be frugal and spend their money at home.
Kil, 29 and studying travel industry management, hopes to be working full time. To get tuition waivers he must also study full time. He's also applying for grants and loans.
School officials in Hawaii say U.S. visa and immigration regulations make it difficult to study here compared to other countries. Kil said he lost out on a job because of heavy paperwork and requirements regarding employment length.
"I want the U.S. government to consider the Asian crisis," Kil said, "and have more flexibility."
It wasn't uncommon to see free-spending Asian students cruising Honolulu's luxury car shops, focusing on prestige, not price. Days of pricey car purchases
by wealthy Asian students pastCompared to what they would pay in import taxes at home, a Jaguar here was cheap. And Asia's business was booming.
No more.
"Instead of coming in to buy expensive vehicles, now more are trying to get rid of them," said Ricky Chan, owner of Luxury Motors.
A number of Asian economies have collapsed in the last year, and their once-strong currencies have faded. Chan's business followed, losing 20 percent based on Asian students.
International students spent $76.4 million in Hawaii last year. Their spending spread beyond tuition to restaurants, boutiques and car dealers. Educators believe many in the state are unaware of the students' spending power and effect on Hawaii's economy.
"Some students were getting $3,000- to $4,000-a-month allowance from families, and they were able to make payments with no headaches," Chan said. "Now with currency devaluations, that's only $1,000 to $1,500 a month. Students are having a tough time staying alive."
Rima Braden, Executive Auto Center sales manager, said 30 to 35 percent of the center's business was Asian students, but that's dropped to 5 to 10 percent.
