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Photo by\u00a0WNMU<\/a><\/p>\n It’s good to aim for acceptance into top schools. But I always encourage international students to consider smaller public universities too.\u00a0There are a number of advantages to this option.<\/p>\n Smaller public institutions usually have\u00a0lower-than-average minimum TOEFL score requirements. And they accept a larger number of the students who apply. In fact, the difference in acceptance rates between small public schools\u00a0and top quality schools can be quite dramatic. For an example of this contrast, let’s look at two West Coast United States schools. Stanford, a privately-run top university in California, has a less than 5% acceptance rate<\/a>. But the acceptance rate at Western Washington University<\/a>, a public school in a small town in the state of Washington, is more than 83%!<\/p>\n Smaller state schools are so accepting that they often create intensive English programs<\/a> on-campus. In these programs,\u00a0students with low English ability can improve their English. IEP students often receive conditional acceptance<\/a> into these smaller public\u00a0universities, and they can begin regular degree classes once their English improves.<\/p>\n University study in the USA is pretty expensive no matter what. And public universities charge higher tuition to international students, compared to what they’d charge local applicants. Still, the savings can be dramatic. International tuition rates at a public universities can still cost tens of thousands of dollars less than the tuition at a top school.<\/p>\n Let’s compare two universities again. This time we’ll look at the East Coast. Princeton University, a prestigious\u00a0top school in New Jersey, currently charges about $50,000 per year for undergraduate tuition<\/a>. For a regional comparison, consider the University of Maine<\/a>. They charge their international students less than $30,000 per year for undergrad study.<\/p>\n Within the U.S., smaller public universities are seldom regarded as top<\/em> schools. But no one sees these schools as disreputable. And the quality of education is usually quite good. I tell you this from experience– I spent over ten years both studying at and teaching at small public universities.<\/p>\n As a professor, I can tell you that the international students I worked with had no problem getting into top schools for their graduate studies, provided their undergraduate public university grades were good. So you have a great shot at a grad school of your choice if you attend a small public university and take Study Cafe’s advice:<\/p>\nSmall public universities\u00a0are more accepting<\/h2>\n
Small public universities\u00a0are more affordable<\/h2>\n
Small public universities are not\u00a0bad<\/em> schools<\/h2>\n