Washington State Seeks to Increase Foreign Students

SPOKANE, Wash. — Washington State University wants to increase the number of students from other countries who enroll at the Pullman-based school.

The university this week signed an agreement with a company that recruits international students.

The effort is part of the school’s goal to become one of the nation’s top 25 public research universities by 2030.

Washington State has about 30,000 students, two-thirds of them at its main campus in rural Pullman and the rest at branches in Spokane, Vancouver, the Tri-Cities and Everett.

The university currently has about 2,100 students from 100 foreign countries, about 7 percent of the student population. Craig Lawson, spokesman for International Programs, says the three biggest sources are China, India and Oman.

He says there is no specific goal yet for number of foreign students.