Saudi Influx Some 25,000 students bound for U.S. universities. BY BRYAN ANDERSEN Abdulla Alabdulhai, Abbas Al Zawwad and Nasser Al Shumur want to get degrees in science and engineering. They are taking classes in English at OSU this spring with the hope of soon being admitted into the main university. From left are Abdulla Alabdulhai, Abbas Al Zawwad and Nasser Al Shumur The men, ages 18-20, are three of 5,000 students who have received full-ride scholarships from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to study at universities across the U.S. Hundreds have decided the best place to pursue their dreams is Oregon. The Scholarship Program Saudi Arabia plans on awarding scholarships for study abroad to 25,000 of its best students over the next five years. Many Saudi students want to major in business, science or engineering. Because the UO and OSU are strong in these areas, it makes them attractive to many Saudi students. The majority of Saudi students at Oregon's two largest universities must study English from one term to one year before being admitted into the main university to begin work on their majors. This means their studies begin at the UO's American English Institute or at OSU's English Language Institute. There was only one Saudi student at the ELI during the 2005 winter term, but that number increased to 81 this winter. Saudi students made up 54 percent of all students at the institute during the term that just concluded. Last fall 23 Saudi students were enrolled in the UO's AEI, according to co-director Cindy Kieffer. That number increased to 70 during the winter term and increased again to 100 enrolled this spring. Even more Saudis are expected in the future. "There haven't been such a large number of Saudi students at the university since the mid-1980s," Kieffer said. Younger, More Rural, More Women Deborah Healey, Director of the ELI at OSU, said the current scholarship program is interesting because compared to past programs, recipients this time are younger, from smaller cities and towns and include more women. Recent reports on Saudi Arabia by the Associated Press say the Kingdom's new ruler, King Abdullah, is leading his country towards more openness. It was Abdullah, then a prince, who suggested the scholarship idea to President Bush when the two met in Texas last year. Whereas the median age in the U.S. is 36.5 years old, the median age in Saudi Arabia is just 21.4 years. Healey said she thinks having up to 25,000 Saudi students getting university degrees in the U.S. will have a real impact on their society. "I think it's a very good thing. It's not just the same kinds of people who get to travel," Healey said. "This is a much broader outreach, and so I think it will have a much broader impact." Part of the impact she foresees is one of foreign people coming to the U.S. and learning about us and our culture, and then telling others back home about what Americans are like in reality, as opposed to the stereotypes of us they may have because of how Americans are portrayed in the news media and in Hollywood films. Fatimah & Mohammed Fatimah Alramadhan, 18, is a good example of the kind of student Healey mentioned. She is from a town in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia called Qatif. Her eyes light up when she speaks of her dreams for the future. "For now I am studying English in the ELI, and then I am planning to attend the pharmacy college and study there," she said. Alramadhan's father studied at OSU and recommended that she also study in Corvallis. Many Saudi students study at the UO or at OSU on the recommendation of friends and family. Students are attracted by the good reputations academic programs at both universities have but also because both schools are in relatively small, safe cities. Mohammed Garatli, 20, studied for one term at the ELI before being admitted into the main university and is now majoring in mechanical engineering. Garatli was born in the U.S. and lived in Houston, Texas, when he was young. "The hard part is missing my family," he said. "But, to me, I'm here for a goal. I'm here to get a degree. The challenging thing is to get good grades. Other than that, I think everything is good." When asked if he misses his Saudi culture, little things like greeting others in his native language, Garatli laughed. "There are too many Saudis here to miss that," he said.
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