COLLEGES HAVE INTERNATIONAL INTEREST\County district hopes to lure more foreign students to schools.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Two days after arriving in Ventura County from Hong Kong, Cheuk-Wa Wong was so busy enrolling for classes and getting acclimated to Moorpark College she didn't have time to feel lost.

Little more than a year later, the soft-spoken 18-year-old rents a room in a Moorpark home, speaks improved English and has made many friends. Wong also is half way to completing an associate of arts degree and plans to transfer to the California State University system.

She says her parents are investing in a future for her in the United States because they are uncertain about the future for Hong Kong when the Republic of China takes over in July 1997.

"They just want me to have a good life," Wong says. "I feel I have a responsibility to my family. I use lots of money to be here."

Whether following families or seeking new opportunities abroad, students from dozens of countries across the globe enroll each year in the Ventura County Community College District. There are some 170 full-time international students at the county's three community colleges.

And the district wants more.

A recently initiated program to boost international student enrollment is designed in part to bring greater diversity to the campuses in Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura. An increase also would help bolster district revenue, as foreign students pay tuition about 10 times that of residents, who pay $13 per unit.

Leading the recruitment drive is Elise Schneider, who left her post as Oxnard College president in February to take over as the district's first provost for international programs.

"The thing we've got going for us is that most of these students want to complete a university (education)," Schneider said. "We will be able to show them that this is the gateway to four-year institutions."

Schneider and an assistant are preparing a marketing plan to pitch the three campuses and career-track programs primarily to students in Asia, Europe and South America.

With a $100,000 budget for promotional materials and travel, Schneider is preparing to join representatives from a handful of community colleges and many of the nation's four-year universities who attend recruiting fairs abroad. She will be backed by a 15-minute video, photographs, brochures and even a banner with the district's logo featuring a sun setting over Anacapa Island.

Schneider is confident in her ability to lure international students to district colleges. A highlight of her Oxnard College presidency was helping to spearhead development of two soccer fields that became the training site for Cameroon's national soccer team during World Cup 1994.

"It's wide open. The opportunities are there," Schneider said. "It's just a matter of getting your travel schedule together and getting out there.

"I'll be traveling light."

Schneider also will recruit students from foreign-language schools in Southern California. She wants international students already attending the county's community colleges to be ambassadors for the district back home.

The district has many selling points that Schneider said will make her job easier. The three colleges are in mostly safe communities with reasonable housing costs, and the county is next door to the cultural offerings of Los Angeles. International students also are lured by the opportunity to transfer to a California State University or University of California school after completing a community college degree program.

The success Santa Monica College has enjoyed in recruiting international students throughout the 1990s gives Schneider hope for similar success.

"We have more international students than most four-year institutions," said Elena Garate Eskey, Santa Monica's dean of international education.

Of the college's 23,000 students, more than 2,250 are full-time students from a different nation.

The college in Santa Monica pays $3 million annually for staff to recruit and enroll international students, provide counseling and otherwise assist with their transition into life in Los Angeles. This year's tuition and fees will total some $9 million, providing a nice net gain for the college, because most of the total goes to the college and not the state.

"Obviously, the tuition revenue is important," Eskey said.

Schneider's goal for the 1996-97 school year is to enroll 100 more full-time students through the international program. Schneider said total tuition from those students, who would pay $141 per unit for a minimum of two 12-unit semesters, would offset the program's first-year cost of $340,000.

Given the number of international students already enrolled on the county's three community college campuses without a recruitment effort, Schneider said there is potential to enroll hundreds more.

To qualify, international students must complete the equivalent of a high school education and pass placement exams in math and English. They must obtain a foreign student visa, which does not allow them to hold paying jobs unless they become legalized, permanent U.S. residents.

The state requires that international students enroll for a minimum of two 12-unit semesters, which makes them full-time students.

While international students ultimately can be a financial boon for community colleges, international program officials said the primary benefit is bringing U.S. students closer to their counterparts from other nations.

"We've got a little tiny world here," Eskey said. "We're closer than we all think, and we need to interact, and a community college is a wonderful place to do that."

Titu Asghar, a native from Singapore completing a degree at Moorpark, agrees.

"My first semester was a tryout, and I liked it," said the 22-year-old, who moved to Simi Valley with his family in 1992. "I like the personal touch of a community college."

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Photo Elise Schneider "Opportunities are there"