A Look at Washington University

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A student at Xinjiang Normal University in China has a question for our Foreign Student Series. Akbar Mamat wants to go overseas after graduation and would like some information about Washington University.

Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, is a medium-sized school in the Midwest. It has almost 11,000 students. 12% this last school year were international students, mostly graduate students.

The university has schools for law, medicine and social work. It also has a business school, a school of design and visual arts and a school of engineering and applied science. But more than 70% of courses are taught through the Arts and Sciences program.

The new school year that begins this fall will cost $52,000 for undergraduates. That includes twelve months of living expenses estimated at $17,000.

Graduate tuition differs by program. Tuition for the Master of Social Work program, for example, will cost $27,000 in the coming year. The Master of Business Administration program will cost about $38,000.

The university offers financial assistance to international students, including first-year students, but says its resources are limited.

Scholarships are available. The university also offers a monthly payment plan to spread out the cost of tuition. And it offers loan programs.

International students in the United States generally cannot receive federal student loans. But they may be able to take out private loans, as many American students do. The student loan industry is in the news right now. Investigations are looking at questionable dealings between colleges and lenders.

Washington University in Saint Louis was named Eliot Seminary when it opened in 1853. Later the name was changed to honor the first American president, George Washington.

But other schools share the name Washington, including the University of Washington and George Washington University. So in 1976 Washington University added the words "in Saint Louis" to its name.

'America's Oldest University': Why Penn Can Make Claim

The University of Pennsylvania was recognized a year before Harvard. Yet Harvard came first.

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Thu Ya Naing from Burma wants to know how many colleges and universities are in the United States. Alexander Romashchenko in Russia wonders which university in the United States is the oldest. And Mohamad Firouzi in Iran would like to know more about Harvard University.

The National Center for Education Statistics says more than 4,200 colleges and universities award degrees. These include two-year schools as well as four-year schools.

The oldest institution of higher learning in the country is Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was established in 1636 as Harvard College. Massachusetts was an English colony at the time.

The school was named for a Puritan religious leader. John Harvard gave the college all his books and half his property when he died.

At first, Harvard had one teacher and nine students. Today it has almost 20,000 students. Nearly 4,000 of them this past year were from outside the United States.

There are 14 schools at Harvard. They include Harvard College and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Harvard College is the undergraduate division of the university and Radcliffe is a former college for women.

So Harvard came first. Later, in 1780, the Massachusetts Constitution went into effect and officially recognized Harvard as a university. Some Harvard materials call it America's oldest university.

But the University of Pennsylvania calls itself America's oldest university. Penn officials note that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognized their school as a university in 1779. That was one year before Harvard.

Yet the history gets a little complex. Penn considers its anniversary date to be 1740. That was when the Charity School of Philadelphia was established, though it never opened. Benjamin Franklin later presented his ideas for a learning institution that included the Charity School. It opened in 1751 and became the university.

Today, more than 23,000 students attend the University of Pennsylvania. 4,000 of them come from other countries.

Note: First picture is Harvard Hall; Second picture is College Hall at the University of Pennsylvania.

Studying Religion in the US

We look at one of the largest seminaries in North America

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A Chinese woman studying business law in Japan has a question about studying a different kind of law. Wang Yuxian says she is a Christian and would like to know about theological seminary programs for foreign students in the United States.

A theological seminary is a graduate school of religion and a professional school for training religious leaders.

Foreign students who want to study at a seminary in the United States apply just as they would to any other graduate school. They have to meet the academic and English language requirements and prove they would be able to pay for their studies.

Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, is one of the largest in North America. Today it has more than 4,000 students from about 70 countries.

Fuller is one of 253 schools accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. An accredited school is one that has passed inspection by a rating group like the association. All of the schools are Christian. But other schools train leaders in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and other faith traditions.

The Fuller Theological Seminary opened in 1947. It has three schools: Theology, Intercultural Studies and Psychology. It also has a center for lifelong learning.

Students at Fuller can earn a doctor of ministry degree or more than 20 other graduate degrees. Examples include a master's degree in marital and family therapy and a master's in global leadership.

There are also degree programs taught in Korean and Spanish. And Fuller admits some students through its English as a second language program.

Some degree programs cost more than others. One year at Fuller can cost anywhere from $12,000 to $24,000.


International students can apply for scholarships and grants. But Fuller says that normally they will not be permitted to work during the time of their studies. The same is true for family members.

How Foreign Citizens Become Doctors in the US

We answer a question from a doctor in Vietnam.

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We continue our Foreign Student Series this week with a question from a doctor at a hospital in Vietnam. Tran Kinh Thanh in Ho Chi Minh City asks how a foreign doctor can become an American doctor.

One way is to complete a medical residency in the United States. A residency is a period of hospital training for medical school graduates.

To be accepted, foreign-trained doctors need approval from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. The process involves passing several tests. After that, foreign doctors can receive a visa to stay in the United States, at least for the training period.

Practicing medicine in the United States also involves other steps.

But the first thing that foreign-trained doctors have to do is make sure they attended a recognized medical school. It has to be listed in the FAIMER International Medical Education Directory. FAIMER is the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research.

If their school is not listed, then foreign-trained doctors cannot be approved for a residency. One solution is to go back to medical school -- an American medical school.

125 schools in the United States belong to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The group says more than 1,100 foreign citizens applied for the current school year. One-fourth of them were admitted last fall.

Almost all medical schools in the United States require applicants to report scores from the Medical College Admission Test.

Future doctors in the United States traditionally complete four years of medical school after undergraduate school. Then, as residents, they treat patients under the supervision of experienced doctors. A residency is generally between three and seven years. The first year is called an internship.

The Association of American Medical Colleges publishes a book called Medical School Admissions Requirements. The newest one is for 2008-2009. The guide has details about every school as well as information for foreign students.

The book costs 25 U.S. dollars and can be ordered through the association's Web site.

For a link to that site, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find all of the earlier reports in our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States.