2008 Woodie Awards
SSU to welcome Saudi students
Brian Belding, Staff Writer
Issue date: 12/7/05 Section: News
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the number of Saudi Arabian students studying in the United States dropped drastically. Many of the 19 terrorists were of Saudi Arabian descent. Fearing backlash, students went back to Saudi Arabia and haven't returned to U.S. colleges.
Now, five years later, Sonoma State and colleges around the country are welcoming students from Saudi Arabia back with open arms after an agreement between the U.S. and Saudi governments paved the way for their return.
President George W. Bush and Saudi King Abdullah met in April to discuss U.S. and Saudi relations. In hopes of enticing Saudi Arabian students back to U.S. colleges, the Saudi government will offer scholarships and the U.S. will ease the restrictions placed upon those students entering the country.
"We must work to expand dialogue, understanding, and interactions between our citizens. This will include programs designed to increase the number of young Saudi students to travel and study in the United States," read a joint statement released by President Bush and Saudi King Abdullah.
SSU is preparing to welcome Saudi Arabian students in the Spring semester yet it's unclear how many applicants will actually attend. Hellen Kallenbach, Director of the Sonoma State American Language Institute, feels the low number of students applying to SSU is due to the lack of a Saudi community in Rohnert Park.
"Other schools have received a lot of applications for the Spring semester. We've only received about twenty applications, and of those about six or seven were denied conditional admission because they didn't have the G.P.A. required for admission into SSU. It looks like we'll have between 10 and 13 for the Spring semester," said Kallenbach.
All of the students currently accepted are male.
The numbers may rise though. Over the next five years, the Saudi government will award 5,000 academic scholarships each year to it's best students. According to Kallenbach, over 47,000 students applied for this years scholarships. Those awarded scholarships submitted applications to 250 colleges and universities.
Now, five years later, Sonoma State and colleges around the country are welcoming students from Saudi Arabia back with open arms after an agreement between the U.S. and Saudi governments paved the way for their return.
President George W. Bush and Saudi King Abdullah met in April to discuss U.S. and Saudi relations. In hopes of enticing Saudi Arabian students back to U.S. colleges, the Saudi government will offer scholarships and the U.S. will ease the restrictions placed upon those students entering the country.
"We must work to expand dialogue, understanding, and interactions between our citizens. This will include programs designed to increase the number of young Saudi students to travel and study in the United States," read a joint statement released by President Bush and Saudi King Abdullah.
SSU is preparing to welcome Saudi Arabian students in the Spring semester yet it's unclear how many applicants will actually attend. Hellen Kallenbach, Director of the Sonoma State American Language Institute, feels the low number of students applying to SSU is due to the lack of a Saudi community in Rohnert Park.
"Other schools have received a lot of applications for the Spring semester. We've only received about twenty applications, and of those about six or seven were denied conditional admission because they didn't have the G.P.A. required for admission into SSU. It looks like we'll have between 10 and 13 for the Spring semester," said Kallenbach.
All of the students currently accepted are male.
The numbers may rise though. Over the next five years, the Saudi government will award 5,000 academic scholarships each year to it's best students. According to Kallenbach, over 47,000 students applied for this years scholarships. Those awarded scholarships submitted applications to 250 colleges and universities.