Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
People on the Move -
N°
88-89, April - December 2002
Pastoral Care of International Students
in the USA
(Results of a survey in 2000)
Rev. Fr. Johan VAN DER MEULEN, S. D. B.
Official of the Pontifical Council
Description of the survey
The Department of Education of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
sent out a request to all campus ministries, asking for information on the
situation of the International Students (IS) on the campus and on the pastoral
programs set up for them. This request was the result of a question posed by the
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
In this survey an International Student is defined as a non-resident alien with
a temporary visa. Most of the statistical data come from 'Open Door' and from
the U.S. Department of Education.
Thirty-four Campus Ministries (CM) responded to the request. This group covers a
bit more than 42,000 IS in forty-four Universities or Colleges, of which 12 are
Catholic institutions. This is about 8.15 % of all IS in the USA.
International Students in the USA (General Information).
In the academic year 1999-2000 there were 514,723 IS enrolled in the US
Universities and Colleges. This is between 25 and 30% of all IS all over the
world (estimated to be 1.6 million in 1996 and are increasing). They represent
about 3.5% of the Higher Education population in the USA.
Asiaprovides more than 54% (280 thousand) of all IS in the USA: 54.5 thousand come
from China (PRC), 47 thousand from Japan and 42 thousand from India. Europe
is the home continent for 78.5 thousand IS (15.2%): 26 thousand from Eastern
Europe, almost 10 thousand from Germany and 8 thousand from the UK. Latin
America sends 62 thousand people (12 %) to study in the USA: 31 thousand
from South America, 11 thousand from Mexico. Only 6% of the IS in the USA come
from Africa (30 thousand): 11 thousand from East Africa, 9 thousand from
West Africa, 4.5 thousand from North Africa, 3 thousand from Southern Africa and
1.7 thousand from Central Africa. Of those from North America, Canada
accounts for 4.5% (23.5 thousand) of the IS.
A study in 1997 pointed out that in 1994 12% of all master's degrees and 27 % of
all doctor's degrees were conferred to IS. In the field of science and
engineering those percentages climb to 31.3% and 40.9% respectively. IS earned
close to 50 % of the doctor's degrees in mathematics and 52 % in computer
sciences. Of all the International Doctoral Students 53 % come from 5 countries:
China, Korea, Taiwan, India and Canada. More than half (53.6%) of the
International Doctoral Students intend to stay in the USA, half of them for
postdoctoral studies, half of them for employment.
International education contributes$12.3billion to the U.S. economy (through Tuition & Fees and Living Expenses).
Over two-thirds (67%) of all IS receive most of their funding for U.S. study
from personal and family sources, and three-quarters (74.7%) receive most of
their funding from sources outside the United States. The most significant
source of funding from within the United States for IS, especially international
graduate students, is the institution the student attends. Colleges and
universities are the primary U.S. source of funding for all IS, and provide
primary funding for 37% of international graduate students, often through
research grants from federal and other sources.
Some statistical data from the sample.
As mentioned above, the thirty-four institutions for Higher Education included
in this sample host a bit more than 42 thousand IS, which is 8.15 % of all IS in
the USA.
Ranked according to the number of IS, eight of the responding institutions
emerged among the top 40 Research Universities (Carnegie Classification) with
the University of Wisconsin - Madison at the fourth place (4,154 IS); four of
them figure among the top 40 doctoral institutes; the Hawaii Pacific University
comes out second among the master's institutions (2,250 IS) and the Johnson
& Wales University (RI) second among the professional & specialized
Institutions (1,119 IS).
For 30 of the 44 institutions we know what percentage of the entire school
population the reported number of IS represents. Some of the percentages are
very high (28% in the Hawaii Pacific University), some are very low (0.8 % in
the Thomas More College). IS in seven institutions represent more than 10% of
the total population, and in twelve they are less than 5%. The average
percentage is 7.87%.
Campus ministry for IS in the USA
Before describing the pastoral care offered to IS by the campus ministry (CM), I
would like to define the status of the CM and its relation with the
Institutions. There is a difference between a CM linked to a Catholic
Institution and one linked to a public Institution. I had the opportunity of
meeting some Ministers working in both pastoral situations. At Georgetown
University (a Catholic University) the CM was an office of the University, fully
staffed, fully integrated into the services that the University offers. At
Harvard University (a public University) the CM was established in a nearby
parish. The staff is appointed and paid by the Diocese. In some of the reports
that were received these two models are identifiable, but not all reports
clearly indicated, if at all, the status of the CM. Often the word 'Center'
(Thomas More Center, Student Center, etc) is used, but it refers to both models
of CM. "Newman Center" usually refers to a CM linked to a non-catholic
school. Maybe some other juridical forms exist, but that requires further
research.
The pastoral programs and activities offered to the IS can be read and
classified according to various keys. The first key that emerges from a reading
of the reports is integration - cultural identity. The programs and activities
can also be classified according to the component of pastoral activity (liturgy,
community building, faith proclamation, solidarity) they represent; this is the
second key. The third key is who the organizer of the activity is: the CM itself
and by itself, the CM in collaboration with an(other) office of the Institution,
the CM in collaboration with the other denominations and/or religions.
Integration - cultural identity
Almost every CM declares that they don't have any particular program for the IS,
while they themselves prefer to participate in the programs and activities
offered to all the students in order to integrate more quickly in the US
society. This does not mean that the difference between a USA-student and an IS
is not taken into account. They do not want to deny the peculiarities of the IS.
On the other hand they do not want to stress those peculiarities so as not to
hinder integration. Every Ministry tries to find a balance between integration
and individual care. All of them declare that every activity is open to
everyone. Some programs are set up to validate the peculiarities of the IS, to
make them feel more at ease: from readings or songs to the whole Mass in their
language, underlining a noteworthy devotion of their homelands. In some
parishes, there are some national or regional IS communities (Korea,
Philippines, Latin America) with their own priests, and some act quite
independently from the rest of the parish. Most interesting are those activities
where all are invited to present themselves and their culture in order to know
and to understand each other better. These intercultural exchanges are also
promoted and supported by the University and College Authorities.
Liturgy, community building, faith proclamation, solidarity
In every pastoral activity you can identify four components: liturgy, community
building, faith proclamation and solidarity; normally just one or two are
stressed, although all four can never be completely separated. The programs and
activities of the CM are overwhelmingly geared towards community building. For
some activities the latter is the only aim, for others an aspect of socializing
is added. It is very important that IS feel that they belong to a group. Some
activities are set up only for IS where they can share experiences with others
who are in the same situation. Most activities are open to every one and build
relations between US-students and IS. Some activities intended for a particular
national or regional group are meant to revive their cultural roots.
A big part of the activities offered by the CM to the students in general and to
the IS in particular are obviously liturgical activities: daily or weekly
Masses, Advent and Lent with Christmas and Easter, confessions, prayer groups,
etc. The students are invited to participate actively in the preparation of
these celebrations. The presence of IS may be underlined by the use of another
language for the readings, the songs or the intercessions. In some places there
are regular (weekly or monthly) or sporadic Masses in another language (Spanish,
Korean, Vietnamese, etc).
Almost all CMs in some way offer the students opportunities to share and nourish
their faith during a retreat or at refreshments, in a bible or prayer group,
etc. I found only one activity of this kind that was set up specifically and
exclusively for IS.
Some of the bigger CM have action groups or offer programs that invite students
to express their solidarity with some groups of marginalized people, or to work
for justice and peace, etc. A lot of CM invite students to take a responsibility
of some kind in the different organizations and committees of the CM. Some
explicitly reserve a position for an IS in their organization.
Organization
Also in this field the sample offers a variety of ways which the activities and
programs are organized. The liturgical activities are obviously organized by the
CM and its members. For other programs the CM cooperates with other
organizations and offices inside or outside the university or college. The
Office for Student Affairs and the Office for International Students are the two
university offices with which the CM collaborates most frequently. The CM is
invited almost everywhere to take part in the welcoming and orientation programs
for new students. Institutions with a significant percentage of IS mostly
organize some sort of activity that would enable the IS to present their country
and culture of origin through art-objects, pamphlets, food, talks, etc.
Where the CM is related to a state university, the ecumenical and interreligious
collaboration is more frequent. The university appreciates their coordinated
plan of action. But also in a Catholic institution, the Catholic CM works
together with the other Christian churches and communities and with the
representatives of other religions.
Conclusions
Almost one third of all IS are enrolled in the USA and we see that the church is
present among them. Pastoral Care stresses integration, but there are a lot of
activities and programs that recognize, respect and validate the cultural
identity of the IS. Most interesting are the activities of cultural exchange.
The theme of the 'migration of competences' is not explicitly present in the
concerns of the Church. The presence of IS in the USA is historically not
related to the missions and to the development help of the poor countries. For
Universities and Colleges, the presence of IS is a matter of prestige and a more
than valid resource of competent researchers.
The pastoral care to IS covers the whole field of pastoral activities with an
accent on community building and liturgy.
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