Since 2013, there has been a 633 percent increase in the number of international students enrolled at Miami's Middletown campus. Only 30 international students were enrolled at Middletown in 2013, while 222 were enrolled as of fall 2016. International students now make up over 11 percent of the students enrolled at the Middletown campus.
The increase is due largely to the creation of an English Language Center (ELC) in 2013, which offers more resources and support for international students, said Jerry Martin, regional director of the ELC. The center was created with the intention of bringing more international students to the Middletown campus, while also providing them the resources they need to be successful.
"I think we recognized the growing number of institutions that were benefitting from international students on their campuses, and we wanted to bring in a larger number of students," Martin said.
The ELC offers an intensive program to help students build English proficiency and other skills needed to do well in their courses. The center also offers services to help students acclimate to American culture. International students are partnered with local host families for their entire stay in America, and the center reaches out to students during the semester through different service projects and outreach programs.
"Our goal is not just to bring students here and be done with them. We want to give them skills to integrate," Martin said.
The ELC also offers seminars for faculty at the Middletown campus that focus on fostering integration between domestic and international students.
Beyond the ELC, Martin believes there are other factors that make Middletown appealing to international students. The Middletown campus is smaller and easier to navigate than the Oxford campus, it offers small class sizes and the regional tuition is cheaper. While many students hope to eventually attend school in Oxford, taking a few years of classes in Middletown and going through the ELC's program helps many international students prepare for transferring.
Overall, the large increase in international students has benefitted the Middletown campus and its domestic students, Martin said. With Middletown being a traditionally commuter school, having international students remain on campus all the time has "livened up" the campus and led to an increase of on-campus activities being planned.
Additionally, the increase in international students has led to more diversity across the campus. The English Language Center has worked to make sure domestic students and international students are interacting on campus.
"There's not that benefit if domestic and international students aren't interacting. Initially, for the first year or two after the center opened, there was a barrier, but now we're seeing more and more domestic students interact with international students," Martin said.