Kosovar Students in the U.S.
According to the Institute for International Education’s Open Doors 2007 Report, 582,000 international students were enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education in 2006-2007. That figure accounted for 3.9% of total enrollment. Obviously, American universities are open to international students.
Unfortunately, according to the report’s regional profile on Europe, only that 582,000 included only 56 individuals from Kosovo. That ranks last among European countries except for Gibraltar, Malta, Andorra, Lichtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican (Montenegro, it should be noted, has 58 students in the U.S.)
This figure represents both a challenge and an opportunity: a challenge in that it highlights the various difficulties students from Kosovo have in successfully applying to, and then paying for, a university education in the United States; an opportunity in that it demonstrates that students from Kosovo are a rarity on U.S. campuses, and that, therefore, universities looking to increase the diversity of their student body may be especially intrigued by an application from Kosovo.
When you consider applying to a U.S. university at either the graduate or undergraduate level, consider that Kosovo is under-represented compared to the other countries in the region – Bosnia has 413 students in the U.S.; Croatia 629; Albania 841; Macedonia 345; Serbia 1,074; Bulgaria 3,478. Admissions staff are therefore going to be intrigued by the prospect of adding students from Kosovo to their student body.
Bottom line: by putting Kosovo at the center of your application, you can increase the chances that your application is going to catch the eye of an admissions officer.