Enrollment is up
Student body represents 24 nationalities;
Czechs are largest group, Macedonians 2nd
By Jaroslava Hálková
Staff Writer
AAU's fall enrollment is up, with 344 students signing up for classes, compared with 325 for the same semester last year.
Phillip Gray, director of student affairs, said the university had expected closer to 400 students. He said the school's promotional efforts hadn't succeeded as well as he had hoped, but added that the enrollment figures are "satisfying."
Enrollment reached a peak in the fall term of 1998, with 394 students. The worst fall term was in 2000, when 247 students signed up for classes, Gray said.
This year's student body is diversified, with 24 nationalities represented. Czechs lead the ranks with 204 students, followed by Macedonians with 46. Gray said "word of mouth" probably partially explains the unusual number of Macedonians coming to AAU to study. He added that the Macedonian legal system makes visas relatively easy to obtain.
The opposite is true with a number of African countries, where legal red tape has caused many would-be students to give up on their hopes of studying here, said Gray. Nigeria, Sudan, Ghana, South Africa and Libya are represented by only one student each, he said.
Americans and Slovaks are well represented, with eight students each.
AAU has no students from Spain, Italy or France, probably because they have so many opportunities for studying at Western universities, Gray said.
Private education is still too expensive for most students from the former Soviet Union, Gray said. Those wealthy enough to study privately are likely to opt for education in the United States or the United Kingdom, he said.
Economics and management is the most popular major with this fall's crop of students, with 133 students enrolled in that program, Gray said.Humanities also is gaining in popularity, adding 27 students from 80 enrolled in that program last fall. He said fewer students are opting for a law studies major, but that should change once problems with accreditation are worked out."
I don't mind being the only Canadian at AAU," said Andrew Knight "I wanted to live and study in Europe, and Prague itself is beautiful. I'll stay as long as I am satisfied with the education."
--Jaroslava Halkova can be reached at Jaroslavahalkova@hotmail.com
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Last issue date: Dec. 12, 2003
