Specific numbers were not yet available for fall 2003 enrollment.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, international students are now required to have a face-to-face interview with a visa officer. Also, the visa officer can request a security advisory opinion to have students approved by officials in Washington, D.C., a process that can take up to 10 months, Assaf said.

She said one foreign student studying at Penn State last year went home for Christmas break and got stuck overseas in the middle of the program because he had to obtain a new visa.

Assaf said a group of students from Saudi Arabia planned to attend Penn State last year, but decided instead to study in the United Kingdom because it was taking too long to obtain visas.

"Rather than risk not being able to start school in August, they chose to go where they knew they could start school," Assaf said. "They didn't want to miss any time from starting school."Assaf said there are a variety of reasons why students are choosing to study in countries other than the United States.

She said students from Arab-speaking and Muslim countries tend to go through stricter security checks and often feel unwelcome in the United States. Ali Erol (sophomore-international politics), whose family lives in Turkey, said he did not experience any difficulty obtaining a visa when he came to study at Penn State two years ago.

He said international students are classified by which country they come from when applying for a visa.

"Because of this policy, lot of people may choose not to come to the United States because they think it is wrong," Erol said. "The U.S. knows discrimination is something that is immoral according to any standard because we are all humans."

The IIE's study reported a 10 percent decline in the number of Middle Eastern students studying at U.S. colleges.

Ursula Oaks, spokeswoman for the Association of International Educators, agreed that the new visa application process is the number one reason for declines in international student enrollment.

"We understand the need for heightened security measures, but we need to find a way to do it and still attract international students to the U.S.," she said.

Oaks said she found the decline of Middle Eastern students particularly troubling.

"If we as a country are focused on diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, and at the same time, their students are finding it more difficult to study here and are coming to the U.S. in lower numbers, then that is of concern," she said.

Oaks said the IIE's report is the first look at what impact the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has had on international student enrollment.

Sang Han, assistant director of federal relations at the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, said the U.S. is losing talented individuals with the declining number of foreign students.

"Science and academic research is not something that the U.S. has a monopoly on," Han said. "It only helps us to have the most talented and gifted scholars participating in programs here."

Peggy Blumenthal, vice president for educational services of IIE, said there was a healthy growth in foreign exchange students from many countries including India, Kenya and S. Korea.

"There are students still coming," Blumenthal said. "America still does remain the destination of choice for international students."