Wail Salem , center, greets fellow Saudi Arabian students attending the UA during a reception at Sinbad's. The UA will enroll 100 new Saudi Arabian students this summer.

David Sanders / Arizona Daily Star

Other articles by Eric Swedlund:

West Side bee swarm stings eight Desert Museum closes for day after wild-javelina bite 40 cops target crime wave in area around Stone, Glenn Over 100 fugitives captured in six-day crackdown here Some wildfires are left to burn; 5 new ones ID'd Lightning sparks 3 new, small wildfires in Southern Ariz. Monsoon's cool presence Monsoon revs its high-voltage engine Police arrest 10 in ATM burglary case DNA points to homeless man in May murder case, police say

Trades/Construction
Jacobs Electric
Electricians & Helpers Administrative & Professional
Tucson Symphony
Teleservices Sales/Courtesy Rep Health Care
FRONT OFFICE Trades/Construction
Lectra-Serv, Inc
Electricians & Helpers Trades/Construction
Wentz and Patrick Construction
Carpenters & Helpers General
Prestige maintenance USA
Custodian Trades/Construction
arizona portland cement
maintenance electrician

The UA will enroll about 100 new Saudi Arabian students this summer, which could signal the reverse of a post-Sept. 11 trend of having fewer international students in the United States, especially those from the Middle East. 

The students are part of a new large-scale scholarship program by the Saudi government, which will send about 6,000 students to American universities this year after just 1,442 Saudi students had visas to study in the United States in 2004.

About 80 of the students are already at the UA, enrolled in English-immersion classes before they start their academic programs in the fall. More are expected by the start of next semester as they secure visas.

"International education and student mobility are critical to a lot of positive initiatives worldwide," said Joanne Lagassé Long, director of the Office of International Student Affairs. "The best way to do that is have students study in each other's countries."

The Saudi scholarship program comes at a time when international student interest in American universities is rebounding nationwide. After Sept. 11, 2001, new federal procedures and delays in obtaining U.S. visas caused a decline in foreign students in the United States.

International-student enrollment at the UA surged from the late 1990s until 2002, but has dropped sharply since. The UA had 3,011 international students in 2002 but was down to 2,446 last fall. There's a distinct economic benefit to international students, with the new Saudis expected to have an impact of about $3 million a year on the Tucson economy.

But with this new crop of Saudi Arabian students, it's clear the UA is a hit.

"U of A is famous in Saudi Arabia," said Abdullah Alshammari, 35. "All of them didn't come by chance. They made a plan."

Alshammari, who will be a doctoral student in environment engineering, said he chose the UA because of its reputation. Teachers of his in Saudi Arabia studied here and recommended it highly.

Most of the students at the UA had positive recommendations from alumni in Saudi Arabia, including family members, friends and teachers. Aside from the academic quality, many remember Tucson as a comfortable place.

"Arizona is like the Saudi climate," he said.

The UA had a large number of Saudi Arabian students in the 1970s and early 1980s, but that number declined in the mid-1980s as Saudi Arabia began building universities to keep its own students, said Alfred Stover, assistant Center for English as a Second Language director for outreach and development.

"Now they really want to foster positive relations with the U.S. and that's one of the many reasons they want to send students here," he said. "We're hoping this is positive because the purpose is to facilitate a relationship between countries, just like international education does."

The program grew out of an agreement in April by President Bush and then-Crown Prince Abdullah, with the more open policy part of larger efforts at improving relations between the two nations.

Stover said the program is a good start at reversing the decline of Middle Eastern students in general studying in the United States.

"This is part of a very large picture. We would prefer the international students coming back in large numbers be seen as a very positive thing in terms of international policy and relations," he said.

Countries including Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom capitalized on changes to U.S. visa rules and started recruiting foreign students more heavily.

"For the past couple years the trend has been we've been on the decline and other countries have been on the increase," Stover said. "But we have the finest university educational system in the world and a lot of people would like to come here."

Rakan Almuagle, 22, was born in Tucson when his father was a UA student, but he grew up in Saudi Arabia. He returned to Tucson in January 2005 and is in his first semester at the UA.

"He used to tell me it was a college town, better than anywhere else," he said. "There is a lot of knowledge about the standards of the graduates the UA puts out."

Almuagle, an electrical-engineering student, has a brother who will study accounting at the UA. One of his plans is to revive a Saudi student club.

"I see in Tucson, it's easier for the Saudis or the other foreign students to get integrated," he said.

Naser Dossary, 20, has been in Tucson for three months and plans to study computer science. He studied computer science for a year in Saudi Arabia and knew people who graduated from the UA.

"It's famous where I live," he said. "When we arrived in Tucson, the community was really welcoming. I still feel like I'm at home here."

Dossary said he plans to return to his home country to work after getting his degree and is anticipating working for a good company, with good benefits and a high salary.

"If you study in the United States, you have an advantage," he said.