Salman Mohal’s latest run-in with the Immigration and Naturalization Service resembled a quiz show.

On his way back to Kansas University this summer from his home in Pakistan, Mohal was pulled into a room at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport by immigration officials.

“Where are you going?” they asked.

“Who is the basketball coach at KU?”

“What’s the tallest building there?”

After answering the questions correctly, Mohal was allowed to continue on to KU, where he’s a sophomore studying economics.

He got a firsthand view of the INS officials who are keeping a closer eye on international students — and especially those from Muslim nations — in the two years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The stricter attitude toward international students has left many of them uncomfortable, and higher education officials fear that may lead them to study elsewhere.

“I have no problems with the people here, only when I leave or come back in the country,” Mohal said. “I’m really scared to leave here and go back to Pakistan again.”

Despite new restrictions on travel, international student enrollment at KU is down only four students this year — from 1,648 last year to 1,644 this fall. There are 112 countries represented this fall, down from 118 last year.

“We’re just pleased the numbers aren’t down more than they are,” said Joe Potts, director of International Student and Scholar Services.

About 290 fewer international students enrolled this fall at KU and Kansas’ five other regents schools, a decline of about 6 percent from a year ago. In Missouri, 63 fewer students enrolled this fall in that state’s four-campus system, for a drop of less than 2 percent.

Nationally, flat foreign student enrollment is anticipated after several years of growth, said Peggy Blumenthal, vice president for educational services for the New York-based Institute of International Education.

“There’s no question that the combination of visa changes and the economic situation and competition from other host countries is having an impact,” Blumenthal said.

Perception and reality

At KU, Potts said, many students opted not to go home this summer because of fears they wouldn’t be allowed to return. But he said he’d heard few reports of students being hassled when re-entering U.S. borders.

¢KU International Student and Scholar Services

“The perception is probably more important to this than the reality,” he said. “The rules are being enforced more closely, but the rules aren’t really different. The main factor is that the U.S. is doing these things and it’s widely publicized. The fact the rules haven’t changed gets lost in the shuffle.”

In addition to more questioning at the borders, international students are facing longer waits for visas. What once was a two- or three-week wait has become three to five months.

And once they get to the United States, students are under increased surveillance. The Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVIS, came online this fall and requires universities to collect and forward to the INS information on international students — including passport numbers, majors and home addresses.

For students who fall out of compliance with their visas — by dropping below a full-time course load or changing majors without following proper protocol — the INS will be notified almost immediately.

Middle East scrutiny

Students from mostly Muslim countries are under special scrutiny.

For Mohal and others from 25 targeted countries, that means getting photographed and fingerprinted at the border and then again 30 to 40 days after entering the country.

Mohal went through the routine when he returned for the fall semester.

“Two weeks ago Kansas City Immigration sent me an e-mail saying please go to the immigration office in Kansas City, even though I just went,” he said.

The targeted surveillance already has hurt KU’s enrollment from students in the Middle East, Potts said. Students in KU’s Near East/South Asia category, excluding India, have dropped from 248 in fall 2001 to 215 this year.

Potts says he fears that if stricter regulations continue, students will begin opting to study in other countries. New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia and Canada all are beefing up their recruiting efforts.

“Generally the feeling is the students feel less comfortable, and that’s causing them, their families and friends to look at other places,” he said.

Recruiting unchanged

The increased regulations haven’t changed much of KU’s international recruiting plan, which relies heavily on word of mouth from former students to entice new foreign students to KU.

Hodgie Bricke, assistant dean of international programs, said KU officials went on international education tours, the rough equivalent of college fairs for American high school students. Southeast Asia and the Middle East were targeted areas before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she said, and they continue as such.

Bricke said KU would continue to recruit international students despite the new challenges. She expects a continued decline in international numbers but is optimistic there eventually will be a turnaround.

“I don’t think we’re changing our strategy,” Bricke said. “I think we need this diversity, more than any other time. We don’t want to be fair-weather friends.”

That’s a philosophy Mazen Iskandrani, a junior from Jordan, takes as he studies business at KU.

“It’s a good education for me personally because it’s better than the education in my country,” he said. “It’s important to have international students on campus because it’s a good chance for the American people to understand other cultures, traditions.”