By Nancy Steinbach
Broadcast: March 3, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.

Today, in part twenty-seven of our Foreign Student Series, we discuss the university with the most foreign students in America. It is in Los Angeles. Any guess which school it is?

It is the University of Southern California.

The Institute of International Education reported in November that U.S.C. was the leader for a third year. In the last school year, there were more than six thousand foreign students. The number was over twenty percent of the student population. Columbia University in New York City had the second largest number of students from outside the United States. And the Institute of International Education reported that Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, was third.

Most of the foreign students at the University of Southern California have a bachelor's degree. That means they have already completed four years of college. The foreign students at U.S.C. mostly study engineering and science. The university has students this year from one hundred nations. The largest numbers are from India, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Canada.

The cost for an undergraduate at the University of Southern California is about forty-two thousand dollars for one year. That includes classes, housing, food, books and insurance. Graduate students pay about forty-four thousand dollars.

Financial aid for an international graduate student is normally in the form of a job as an assistant in research or teaching. Undergraduates generally cannot receive financial aid from the university.

U.S.C. has offices in Hong Kong, Taipei, Jakarta, Tokyo and Mexico City. They hold meetings to help get local students interested in the university. The offices also help parents of U.S.C. students to communicate with the school.

U.S.C. offers English language training and TOEFL test preparation classes at its Language Academy.

Internet users can learn more about the University of Southern California at usc.edu.

Our Foreign Student Series is online at voaspecialenglish-dot-com. Since September, we have discussed many different subjects of interest for those who would like to attend an American college or university. Students can also get information from the State Department at educationusa.state.gov.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Gwen Outen.