International student program expands with new cohorts from Panama

Rowan University's growing international program continues to attract a large continent from Central America, with nearly 60 top Panamanian students arriving on campus this summer.

Dr. Gokhan Alkanat, associate provost for International Education, said groups of Panamanian students, which began arriving last summer, are coming in increasingly larger numbers. In 2023, roughly 45 Panamanian students attended Rowan, with about two thirds taking just English as a Second Language (ESL) courses and the rest studying ESL ahead of matriculation into a major.

In May, 57 Panamanian ESL students arrived for a six-month program and another 27 will start later this summer for a five-year program, one year in ESL with the remaining four years devoted to earning their undergraduate degree, Alkanat said.

Instituto para la Formación y Aprovechamiento de Recursos Humanos (IFARHU), a Panamanian government organization, administers the scholarship program.

"IFARHU covers all expenses," Alkanat said. "They pay for tuition, fees, room and board, health insurance, textbooks, flights, airport pickup, even pocket money."

He said many of the students who come to Rowan as part of the five-year program are among Panama's best and brightest, carrying a GPA of 4.0 or better out of high school.

And, though they have good enough grades to study almost anywhere, Alkanat said both the students who've arrived so far and representatives of the Panamanian government have fallen for Rowan.

"This year Panama has virtually doubled the number of students they're sending here," Alkanat said. "We have the right programs, a convenient location and affordable education. Plus, they know their students will be safe here, that we take care of them."

Alkanat said the International Students program has virtually exploded since 2017, expanding from 131 students to more than 1,200 today. Students are drawn to a variety of majors, but Computer Science and Engineering are among the most popular, he said.

While Rowan draws many applicants through partnerships with South and Central American nations, Alkanat said its draw is truly international, as students arrive individually and through partnerships with governments and universities in an array of nations including India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, China, Japan and Turkey.

And, Alkanat said, while international students gain much from their immersive experience on an American campus, U.S.-born students benefit as well.

"Rowan has about 16,000 undergraduate students and, of them, only about 200 study abroad (each year)," he said. "For the rest, we bring international students in. They're the students sitting next to you in class and across the table in the dining hall."

Those interactions add language and cultural diverseness to campus in a way that few if any other programs can, he said.

"For U.S.-born students, that experience opens their eyes, and they often see there's another way of doing things," he said. "We're hoping that an increased presence of international students on campus and the recently launched study abroad scholarship for those who may otherwise not be able to afford it will encourage our domestic students to experience what it's like to travel overseas as well."

He said Rowan's efforts are getting noticed. The university was honored in 2023 as "Service Exporter of the Year" by the New Jersey District Export Council.

"Rowan has excellent programs and resources, as well as the capacity, which allow us to continue expanding our global network and initiatives," he said.

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