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.