San Juan, June 3 (EFE).- International students from countries as diverse as Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, India, and China are coming to Puerto Rico attracted by science, music, and engineering degrees, thanks to the help from the island’s universities in processing the visas required by US authorities.
“Colombians, Mexicans, Costa Ricans, in the case of Mayagüez, really everything that has to do with computer engineering. We also have several master’s degrees in mathematics,” Javier Carrión, head of International Affairs at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), told EFE about the degrees most chosen by foreign students at its eleven campuses.
“In the case of the Río Piedras, which is our main campus, we have many communities from India and many communities from China doing doctorates in physics and chemistry,” added Carrión, a panelist at the recent forum “Educational Tourism: Puerto Rico as an Academic Destination,” organized by GFR Media and the Agencia EFE.
For his part, Rafael Ramírez, president of the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, explained that among the more than 260 degree programs they offer, there is a greater presence of international students in music, optometry, and engineering.
Graduate programs
“Most of the students we receive come to study graduate programs. Sixty percent of those are foreign students,” Ramírez said.
In this regard, he indicated that the Interamerican University has a total of 99 agreements with universities and organizations to promote student exchange.
However, he acknowledged that Puerto Rican universities need to make themselves known “a little more.” He also said that they are less well-known in Europe than in Central and South America, which is why they receive more Latin American students than European ones.
It is estimated that there are approximately 1,000 international students in Puerto Rico with F-1 and J-1 visas. There are also a large number of U.S. citizens and Latinos with permanent residence or citizenship.
The immigration policy of US President Donald Trump is undermining the goal of educational institutions on the island, a Commonwealth of the United States, to increase the number of international students due to difficulties in obtaining visas.
In this context, Puerto Rican university leaders say they are facing this challenge by providing greater support to potential students in their paperwork.
“The important thing is that we, as a university, can give students administrative support,” Ramírez said.
Similarly, David Bernier, former secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of State, said that education authorities should focus on what they can “control” because, “regardless of what those policies are, they will find opportunities.”
“Puerto Rico has the capacity, it has the strength, we have the appeal to make it a benchmark, regardless of all those challenges,” Bernier concluded. EFE
