Very cool story regarding two students at the University of Illinois who are from China (12 percent of Illinois' student body consists of Chinese citizens) doing Mandarin broadcasts from the press box in an effort to engage more Mandarin students into coming to games and then listening via their smart phones. We really ought to do something like this.

http://www.npr.org/2015/10/16/449238085/...-broadcast

(10-17-2015 09:43 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Very cool story regarding two students at the University of Illinois who are from China (12 percent of Illinois' student body consists of Chinese citizens) doing Mandarin broadcasts from the press box in an effort to engage more Mandarin students into coming to games and then listening via their smart phones. We really ought to do something like this.

http://www.npr.org/2015/10/16/449238085/...-broadcast

We should get 2 Indian students and 2 Hispanic students as well. I think that would cover a large percentage of our international students. I've heard the press box is really cramped but hopefully after it is upgraded we will have room for stuff like this.

Ask JK for the next podcast?

(10-17-2015 09:43 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Very cool story regarding two students at the University of Illinois who are from China (12 percent of Illinois' student body consists of Chinese citizens) doing Mandarin broadcasts from the press box in an effort to engage more Mandarin students into coming to games and then listening via their smart phones. We really ought to do something like this.

http://www.npr.org/2015/10/16/449238085/...-broadcast

What accounts for the high number of Chinese students at Illinois?

(10-17-2015 11:37 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(10-17-2015 09:43 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Very cool story regarding two students at the University of Illinois who are from China (12 percent of Illinois' student body consists of Chinese citizens) doing Mandarin broadcasts from the press box in an effort to engage more Mandarin students into coming to games and then listening via their smart phones. We really ought to do something like this.

http://www.npr.org/2015/10/16/449238085/...-broadcast

What accounts for the high number of Chinese students at Illinois?

Just my opinion, but I assume it's primarily driven by UIUC's strong engineering and agricultural science programs.

(10-17-2015 12:40 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  

(10-17-2015 11:37 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(10-17-2015 09:43 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Very cool story regarding two students at the University of Illinois who are from China (12 percent of Illinois' student body consists of Chinese citizens) doing Mandarin broadcasts from the press box in an effort to engage more Mandarin students into coming to games and then listening via their smart phones. We really ought to do something like this.

http://www.npr.org/2015/10/16/449238085/...-broadcast

What accounts for the high number of Chinese students at Illinois?

Just my opinion, but I assume it's primarily driven by UIUC's strong engineering and agricultural science programs.

Aside from the diversity they bring, all state universities these days welcome, even promote, out-of-state/international students, for financial reasons: They pay higher tuition and usually get no financial aid.

"Inside Higher Ed" published a long article about the Chinese-student influx at U.Illinois in January (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015...n-dramatic). It concentrated on the impacts that the students have had on campus, and changes that have been made to accommodate them ... but it also contained this explanation of why they are applying -- and being admitted -- in such high numbers. As westsidewolf1989 suspected, UI's high rating in engineering is a significant factor.:

Inside Higher Ed Wrote:... Illinois hasn’t had to take some of the shortcuts to increasing its international student enrollment that many other, less well-known universities have. Officials at UIUC say they do not work with commissioned recruiting agents. They do not offer conditional admission or pathway programs for students whose English skills don’t qualify them for direct admission.

The increase in international students, says Charles Tucker, the vice provost for undergraduate education and innovation, is a result of more of them applying – “a lot more, especially a lot more from China.”

“We do some international recruiting, but in China it’s very modest,” says Tucker, who oversees the enrollment management office. “We think that the university has a very strong reputation in China and that international students in general and Chinese students in particular tend to look a lot at ranking as an indicator of reputation, and if you look at something like the Shanghai Jiao Tong [global] ranking, you’ll see that Illinois tends to do even better there than in something like U.S. News and World Report. That’s really brought us a lot of interest from Chinese students and other students around the world.” The Shanghai Jiao Tong ranking of universities rates Illinois as 28th among all research universities in the world and ranks its engineering program – a big draw for international students -- fourth.

As the proportion of international students at Illinois has increased, the proportion of state residents has decreased: in this year’s freshman class, 71.7 percent of students are from Illinois, compared to 89 percent in 2006. In absolute numbers, there are 1,411 fewer Illinois freshmen on campus now than then. ...

(10-17-2015 09:43 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Very cool story regarding two students at the University of Illinois who are from China (12 percent of Illinois' student body consists of Chinese citizens) doing Mandarin broadcasts from the press box in an effort to engage more Mandarin students into coming to games and then listening via their smart phones. We really ought to do something like this.

http://www.npr.org/2015/10/16/449238085/...-broadcast

I am surprised by 12%. Ohio State has about 5%, and you see them everywhere. Dongya Daxue.

This focus and increase on the number of international students in the Big10 seems to be a trend at more than just at the University of Illinois. Michigan State University reported last year that their international enrollment was approximately 15.3% of total enrollment, or 7,600 international students. 3/4 of the international students are from China, Korea, and India, but the students come from 130 countries.