International student enrollment rises to 285

As part of its current strategic plan, Pathway to Distinction, UW-River Falls set a goal of enrolling 147 international students by 2017; the goal was ambitious as less than 90 international students were attending UWRF in fall of 2012.

UWRF achieved its goal by the fall 2013 semester and has nearly doubled the goal with a fall 2014 international student enrollment of 285.

While international students attending UWRF hail from 23 countries, with double-digit delegations from China and Korea, it is 171 Brazilian students that account for most of the rapid increase in international enrollment. UWRF now enrolls more Brazilian students than any other campus in the UW System.

A majority of Brazilian students are attending UWRF through the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP).

The BSMP provides scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students from Brazil for study at colleges and universities in the U.S.

Scholarships are awarded to students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. This initiative, administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), is part of the Brazilian government’s larger effort to grant 100,000 scholarships to the best students from Brazil for study abroad at the world’s top universities.

The program provides an exchange experience at a U.S. college or university to a diverse group of emerging Brazilian scholars, widening the academic and research exchange between the U.S. and Brazil.

For more information on international student enrollment and services at UWRF, call the Global Connections office at 715-425-4891.