It is in part the prof’s fault. She is not writing op-ed pieces blasting the admissions dept. and the board for encouraging the admission of students who are not prepared for college study.
If the majority of the students will not do well in their courses, they will not represent their countries well. That will not increase the respect American students have for foreign countries. In the comments to the WP story, many commenters point out that students from some countries tend to cluster together. It’s not surprising if they don’t even know the alphabet.
I have heard the argument of full-pay foreign students supplementing universities’ budgets. I’m not sure I totally buy that argument. It does create more jobs for administrators and professors. It increases the size of the university, which again creates more jobs for university employees. With a larger student body, there are higher capital costs. If that’s financed by debt, the “profit” from those students may not be a profit at all.
It diverts teaching resources from those students, US and foreign, who are prepared for university study in the US.
It may help the universities’ credit ratings, as it would increase the number of “full tuition” students–without pointing out that those students shouldn’t be enrolled at all, as they have no hope of passing courses. Isn’t this fraud?
And on the oh, what to call it, “happy tourist” aspect of the students’ presence in the classroom, most of my children’s friends have traveled and studied abroad. Many of their friends are international students. However, they attended elite private schools. This is a question of family income.
Many Americans can’t come up with $500 for an emergency. Many American students are paying from their own pockets for university study. They do not have the time to “engage” with foreign cultures. They have to pass the courses, and do well. They are often either studying, or on their way to their jobs. They orient themselves to the labor market, because they don’t have the excess resources to play the professor’s game of globalist sophisticate. http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2016/01/06/63-of-americans-dont-have-enough-savings-to-cover-a-500-emergency/#4a00a3a76dde