UA has no plan to aid foreign students with financial woes

"There has been discussion," said David Currey, University of Arizona's Global Student programs director. "My hope is that there will be a plan in place."

More than 50 percent of UA's international student population is from Asia, Currey said. If some of those students are forced to quit school, the state and the university may suffer a financial loss, Currey said.

Asian currencies recently plunged 400 percent in relation to the dollar, making it difficult for students studying in the United States to stay in school.

The currency crash rippling through Asia is hitting Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand the hardest.

When the dollar became more valuable than some Asian currencies in 1995, investors began to pull out of many parts of Asia. Some Asian corporations then lost money when they had trouble repaying loans borrowed in U.S. dollars.

When many Asian markets crashed, the nightmare began for many indebted economies.

Muhammad Iqbal, an economics graduate student from Indonesia, said at least five other Indonesian students have left the UA since May for financial reasons.

His parents paid $4,500 last semester to send him to the UA. This semester, they had to earn four times as many rupiahs, Indonesia's official currency, to pay tuition. The quadrupling of the amount of rupiahs necessary is the equivalent of an American family having to pay $18,000 per semester.

"For me, I have been having trouble," Iqbal said. "I think all Indonesian students have."

He drafted a petition, which over 60 Indonesian students have signed, asking UA officials for financial help.

"More and more students will go back to Indonesia if conditions are still like this," Iqbal said.

Currey said it is difficult to form an administrative response because only 10 international students have contacted him about the economic crisis.

"We needed, we need, an immediate response," Iqbal said. "I'm afraid it's too late for this semester."

Currey said students can find economic relief in the Emergency Fund, an Immigration and Naturalization Services program. This program allows international students, who normally would be restricted by their Visas to on-campus employment, the option to work off-campus for 20 hours per week for one school year.

On average, INS takes 60 to 90 days to process emergency-fund applications after they have been endorsed by UA's Center for Global Student Programs. Students also face a $70 application fee.

Iqbal said he was willing to do what it takes to stay at the UA.

"I think if you want to study, we will do it," Iqbal said. "I think Indonesians will agree."

A 1994-95 Association of International Educators study found that UA international students contribute nearly $38 million to the state's economy.

"We really should do what we can to help these students," said Paul Rosenblatt, executive director for international affairs at the UA.

As Indonesian students in the United States struggle financially, their families overseas also face large problems, Iqbal said. He said the economic crash, which has forced companies to downsize, is spurning mass unemployment.

"I'm very afraid for my country," Iqbal said. "People are suffering."

He fears many UA students from Indonesia will not be able to afford the next semester.

"The living cost under this circumstance is too much for them," Iqbal said.

He chose to speak out because he feels a responsibility to his Indonesian community. Iqbal said he hopes to complete his two-year graduate program at UA.

"My parents still have some savings in dollars, but if the dollar is still like that with the Rupiah in a year, I will probably go home," Iqbal said.