In contrast to universities, which are judged primarily on the quality of research, colleges are looked at in terms of the success of all incoming students and the presence of international students.
The 10 colleges with the highest number of international students are: Houston Community College System (5,580), Santa Monica College (3,147), De Anza College (2,595), Montgomery College (2,248), Lone Star College System (2,174), Northern Virginia Community College (1,663), CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College (1,503), Diablo Valley College (1,392), Richland College (1,258), City College of San Francisco (1,253), Foothill College (1,236).
Foothill and De Anza Colleges comprise a single educational system. At 3,831 international students combined, they rank second on the list, with a total of about 45,000 students. The colleges’ success in preparing professionals has not gone unnoticed. Martha Kanter, chancellor of the Joint Colleges, was selected in 2009 to serve as undersecretary of the Department of Education in Barack Obama’s administration.
The colleges are located in the heart of world-famous Silicon Valley, a 45-minute drive from San Francisco and 20 minutes from San Jose.
They offer more than 100 majors in a variety of academic fields. In addition to standard subjects, colleges offer degrees in some of the most popular and in-demand fields of study, such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and video game development. The list of the most popular majors, upon completion of which an associate degree that allows you to transfer to a third-year university is awarded, is extensive. It includes accounting, animation, art, biotechnology, bioinformatics, business management, chemistry, computer information systems, database management, enterprise networking, network programming, software development, drama, economics, engineering and design, conservation horticulture and design, environmental studies, entrepreneurship, film and television production, geographic information systems, graphic and interactive design, international business, and architecture.
For those who want to continue their education at university, the colleges have a special Honors Program. With the required GPA and credits, students can transfer to third-year universities, including such prestigious ones as the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and Columbia University. The colleges have signed transfer agreements with a number of universities, including the University of California Irvine, University of California Santa Cruz, University of California Merced, University of California Riverside, Cornell University, Santa Clara University, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, Mills College, University of the Pacific, Golden Gate University, Notre Dame de Namur University, Menlo College.
Among other institutions of this profile, Foothill and De Anza colleges transfer the largest number of students in their third year to universities belonging to the systems of the University of California and California State Universities.
Seattle Central Community College has more than 10,000 students, of which 1,301 are international students. So far it is in 13th place in the table with the largest number of international students. At the same time, it was named College of the Year by Time magazine and the best community college in the United States by the New York Times magazine.
Seattle Central Community College has signed transfer agreements with more than a hundred universities across the country. Among them are such well-known ones as Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University, and Penn State University.
Located in Bremerton, an hour from Seattle, Olympic College is an example of a two-year community college that does not ask for TOEFL scores or high school diplomas from international students. You can take your language training and complete your high school education directly at the college. There are 14,000 students, and only 64 foreigners.