A group of college recruiters who have contributed to Kent State University’s high enrollment of international students from India are on campus this week to experience the university firsthand.
While they routinely direct students to Kent State, none of the six guests have previously visited the university. The Office of Global Education arranged the trip to familiarize the recruiters with the campus and give them a more in-depth knowledge of the programs available.
Kent State Today was on hand when the group met with college deans to learn more about the majors and areas of study available at Kent State, which offers a safe, welcoming and diverse global community of students.
Marcello Fantoni, Ph.D., vice president for global education, opened the event, sharing with the group the importance of India for recruiting in that part of Asia including Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
Nearly 1,000 of Kent State’s 2,200 international students come from India, he said, stressing the country's importance to enrollment. Kent State maintains offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
Fantoni called India “an extraordinary success story.”
While many Indian students pursue degrees in computer science and business analytics at Kent State, he believes there is room to grow Indian enrollment in many other programs, including those in the School of Fashion.
“The potential to grow our recruitment from India is tremendous,” Fantoni said.
Fashion and artificial intelligence are two areas of growing interest to Indian students, said Sravanthi Annabathula, an assistant branch manager for Yathapu Consulting Private Limited, one of the agencies that recruits students to Kent State.
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Students are interested in attending Kent State, she said, “because of the diversification of the programs.”
“Artificial intelligence is a program we can find at very few universities in the U.S. and Kent is one among them,” she said. “Fashion design is a very strong program in Kent. And we are finding a very good amount of students for business analytics also.”
Nikhil Sharma, of Leap Geebee Education, said he was enjoying his first visit to Kent State and was impressed by the beauty of the campus and the charm of the downtown area that features many shops, restaurants and cafes that provide a welcoming environment.
In addition, Sharma said a visit to the Eastway Dining Hall was of particular interest because of the Choolaah café that offers a daily menu of Indian food – a huge benefit for recruiting students from India who have concerns that they will not find American food to their liking.
Deborah Spake, Ph.D., dean of the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, noted the value of students from India for her college.
“The India program is incredibly important to the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship,” she said. “In particular our Master of Science in Business Analytics largely recruits Indian students, who come here hoping they can engage in OPT [Optional Practice Training] and work for local businesses and ultimately obtain a job here. We’ve had great success with that program.”
Of the approximately 300 students enrolled in the master’s program, 200 to 225 are from India, Spake said.
Jameela Abdullah, associate director of international admissions for the Office of Global Education, said her office was thrilled to have the top recruitment agents visit the Kent Campus to get a better sense of the institution they are representing.
“I believe this trip will strengthen our relationships with the agencies, and they will gain firsthand knowledge as to why Kent State is an excellent option for international students to pursue their higher education,” she said.
Other visitors included Avinash Darla of IDP Education India, Nagarjuna Parvathaneni of Texas Review & Consulting Services; Harish Mashetty of Valmiki Group; and Ashlesha Khandekar of KC Overseas Education Pvt. Ltd. Also visiting is Md Zeeshan Ansari, admissions advisor, from Kent State's New Delhi office.
In addition to the Kent Campus, the group also toured the city of Kent and downtown Cleveland attractions.