Hindrawan to Join Department of Commerce Southeast Asia Education Mission

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Joseph J. Hindrawan, associate vice provost for international education and director of international enrollment management at the University at Buffalo, will join colleagues from 55 other U.S. colleges and universities, April 2 to 8, on the Obama administration's first education services trade mission to Indonesia and Vietnam.

The mission will visit Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi with Francisco J. Sanchez, undersecretary of commerce for international trade, U.S. Department of Commerce, to explore opportunities for additional international student recruitment and partnerships with higher education institutions in these countries.

More than 20,000 students from Indonesia and Vietnam currently attend U.S. colleges and universities, and although UB currently enrolls only 46 students from Vietnam and 23 from Indonesia, Hindrawan said UB is working to increase enrolment from both countries.

The U.S. Office of International Trade Administration office notes that Indonesia and Vietnam are two key export markets for U.S. companies. Therefore, expanding educational opportunities for their students provides direct benefits to American companies doing business with these critical markets. But international education also has many direct benefits for the U.S., the colleges that host the students and the communities in which the colleges are located.

"We often think only of manufactured goods as exports," Hindrawan said, "but education and training are among America's most valuable exports and services. In the last academic year alone, tuition and living expenses from international students and their families added $19 billion to the U.S. economy, and $224 million to the Western New York economy, of which UB's share was $93 million."

One benefit of bringing students from these nations to Buffalo, he said, is that when they graduate and return home, they are likely to become part of a growing, educated middle class with strong ties to the U.S. and Western New York.

"With their understanding and appreciation of our city and our university," Hindrawan said, "they are likely to continue to visit and do business here as well as to support future UB educational initiatives here and in their countries."

UB Vice Provost for International Education, Stephen Dunnett, said "we are very pleased and proud that Joseph Hindrawan has been selected to join this prestigious and important trade mission to Vietnam and Indonesia. It is an indication of Joe's outstanding success in building international enrollment at UB. Currently UB enrolls approximately 4,000 international students and ranks as number 12 among all institutions of higher education in the United States in terms of percentage of enrollment that is international."

Besides UB, the mission will include representatives of other New York State colleges and universities: Columbia University and Baruch College (CUNY), both in Manhattan; Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island; SUNY Stony Brook, and Buffalo's Daemen College.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.