More than 60 international students welcomed at Shawnee State University for 2022-23 year

More than 60 international students have been welcomed to Shawnee State University for the 2022-23 academic year. These students come from over 30 different countries. Shawnee’s Center for International Programs & Study Abroad program (or CIPSA) is facilitating the students’ experience.

These international students are involved in myriad aspects of campus life, such as campus student organizations, academic programs, and various sports. Students come from many different countries such as Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

The Portsmouth Daily Times spoke with Shawnee State University’s Director of CIPSA, Ryan Warner, about the class of international students, who said, “We are very excited to be near our pre-pandemic numbers in terms of international enrollment. For the Fall 2022 semester, we have thirty new international enrollees and sixty total international students which is one of our largest intakes of new degree-seeking international students to date as an international office.”

While Shawnee State University’s international students are successful in the classroom as well as in their personal lives, a large part of the CIPSA program is students who want to be athletes and are part of the school’s athletics programs. Soccer, tennis, basketball, and swimming are all seeing international students joining the teams. These students are enrolled in over 20 different academic pathways in both undergraduate and graduate programs.

Ryan Warner also spoke on this aspect of the international program, saying, “There’s been an increased focus on athletic recruitment from coaches and new CIPSA initiatives like our bi-lateral agreement with Hanze University in the Netherlands and UpGrad-India which will begin in the Fall of 2023. This is our most diverse group of international students who represent six of the seven continents of the world.”

Shawnee State University offers licensing programs, minors, associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s, and even an online doctoral program in occupational therapy. The school’s campus is located in Portsmouth, Ohio, and has been around since its founding in 1986. More information about the school can be found at its website.