SIUC's international student enrollment is down for the fifth straight year, with the majority of the loss stemming from undergraduates.

There are 1,149 international students here this year compared to 1,204 in fall 2005, according to figures released Wednesday. Since 2002, international enrollment has decreased by 384 students, said Carla Coppi and SIU Fact Book.

Coppi, interim director of International Programs and Services, said low international enrollment is not just a problem at SIUC. Nationwide, universities have experienced a plunge.

International enrollment in U.S. universities has lost over 21,000 students from 2002 to 2004, according to a 2005 issue of Open Doors magazine.

Coppi said one of the reasons for the loss could be that many foreign universities are doing a better job of educating.

In the last decade, 40 new colleges have sprung up in Cyprus, an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, Coppi said. She said universities in India and China are also increasing their amount of undergraduate programs.

Coppi said American degrees are not as prestigious for international students anymore because overseas degrees can be just as useful.

"Perhaps the allure of an education in America isn't still there," Coppi said.

Chancellor Walter Wendler said the university has always gone out of its way to provide a comfortable environment for international students and respond to their needs.

Wendler said he was confused by the enrollment dip.

The SIU-Niigata campus in Nakajo, Japan, which closed in May, was a prominent source of international students for SIUC.

In general, SIUC could expect to get at least 20 students a semester from the campus. Last year, only five or six students came each semester. No students came this year, Coppi said.

Salmon Muhiuddin, president of the International Student Council, said the difficulty in finding jobs could cause the loss of some international students already at SIUC.

Many on-campus jobs prefer to hire students with federal work-study. Since international students are ineligible for federal work-study, employers often overlook them.

"I have had employers tell me straight out, 'If you are not on federal work-study, I will not hire you,'" Muhiuddin said. "It makes sense. It is cheaper for them. I would do the same."

Larry Dietz, vice chancellor for student affairs, is leading a committee later this semester that will discuss initiatives for solving international recruitment and retention problems at SIUC. Four students have already volunteered to offer insight for the committee, Coppi said.

"We want opinions so we can find out as a community what to do now," Coppi said.