University of California- Davis has had an exceptionally good year with its international student strength increasing by 70 to 80 percent compared to previous years.

According to student newspaper The Californian Aggie, the current quarter has about 680 new students totalling the number of entire foreign students to be 1,120.

The international undergraduate students at UC Davis seems to be on an all time high as there were only there were 344 international students last year.

The student newspaper report also says that as undergraduate admissions are increasing throughout the University of California system, the number of admitted international and exchange students is rising as well.

"UC Davis is committed to increasing California, out-of-state and international student numbers," said Moira Delgado, the outreach coordinator for Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS).

"In general, most campuses are moving toward internationalizing in the broad sense of the term: sending more students abroad, increasing international students and internationalizing the curriculum."

Yet, many Californians are sceptical about the growth of international students at many university campuses out of the fear that these out-of-state students might be taking their chance of getting good education from reputed university.

A large proportion of the students are of the opinion that universities are enrolling more international students to tackle the tuition fee problem, as the foreign and out-of-state students almost pay double the amount of fee.

"I've seen a steady increase in the number of international students occupying seats in lecture halls, in the library, at the MU - everywhere," said fourth-year chemical engineering major Kent Ly to The Californian Aggie.

"I fear that instead of directly addressing the real issue - which in this case is tuition hikes - the UC system will resort to decreasing the number of California-based students admitted in favor of accepting more international and out-of-state students."

Yet, the fact that international students add much needed diversity to American Public Universities is also true.

"International students bring incredible diversity to our campus and it is not only an opportunity for them to learn about U.S. culture but also a wonderful way for U.S. students to learn about other cultures," says Delgado.

SOURCE: The Californian Aggie