2022-2023 Annual Report

This year, UC International dedicated its own hard work to the continued resurgence of international education at the University of Cincinnati, supporting the transformative dreams of our students and the world-changing work of our faculty and staff.

• We welcomed UC’s largest international class ever. Students came in numbers that surged beyond all pre-pandemic enrollments and that surpassed even last year’s record intake following the 2021 lift of travel bans.
• We oversaw the return of large-scale study abroad. Faculty redesigned and led dozens of programs, moving forward from a year of successful pilot programs and individual travel in 2021-22.
• We continued to revitalize the university’s strategic international partnerships, working to advance UC’s Next Lives Here and Research2030 initiatives globally.

A record-smashing 4,251 international students joined UC's record-breaking fall class of 2022.

The cohort of 1,547 new international students topped the pre-COVID peak of 1,107 in 2018. Their numbers eclipsed (+26.4%) even the multi-year intake of 2021, when a backlog of students who had deferred their enrollment or begun their studies online from home during the pandemic finally arrived in Cincinnati.

UC reported its highest international enrollment ever to the National Center for Education Statistics:  4,251, or more than 9% of our student population.

• Including students on OPT (Optional Practical Training), UC reported a total international population of 5,346 to Open Doors. That number is up 19% from 2021.
• Graduate students led the surge, continuing to outnumber undergraduates at UC roughly 2:1, compared to national averages where graduates outnumbered undergraduates for the first time.
• Almost 2/3 of the new students and more than half of all UC’s international students are from India.

Nearly 1,300 UC students studied abroad in 2022-23, a return to three-quarters of the numbers who studied internationally pre-COVID.

The opportunity for international education was especially vital for a generation of students whose education went remote during the pandemic. Study abroad connected them beyond the classroom to prepare them for a future that is more than ever global.

UC’s signature model of faculty-led study abroad programs integrated into specific courses returned strongly. Over 70% of study abroad participants traveled with faculty-led groups in 2022-23.

Such international opportunities integrated into students' degree and career plans are a vital component of the University of Cincinnati’s Next Lives Here promise of experiential learning for all students, regardless of their program of study.

Rebuilding and reconnecting continued with the University of Cincinnati’s key global partners in 2022-23.

Building a small number of these comprehensive and sustainable partnerships allows UC to channel efforts and resources into collaborations that embody our university’s vision of global impact, innovation and inclusion. Such partnerships are more vital than ever. UC International continues to work on new partnership models that embrace articulation agreements, build recruitment pathways, support joint research, incorporate hybrid curricula, and enable travel and exchange.

• UC International signed a new strategic partnership with the University of Trento this year. The relationship was founded on programmatic connections between our law and engineering schools, with developing plans for long-term student mobility, research collaborations and expansion into additional disciplines.
• UC was selected to participate in a national delegation to Greece in November 2022 as part of the IAPP (International Academic Partnership Program) sponsored by IIE and the Greek Ministry of Education to encourage academic collaboration between our countries.
• One of UC’s oldest strategic partners, Future University in Egypt, renewed its affiliation with UC this year. The fall 2022 cohort joining the Joint Co-Op Institute with longtime strategic partner Chongqing University was the largest ever, and the senior class was finally able to travel to UC post-pandemic for the fifth year of its program.
• In alignment with UC’s Research2030 initiative, the Office of Research funded a dual faculty appointment in the UC International office for an executive director of international research programs and engagement. An undergraduate summer research program for students of our international partner universities was piloted under the collaboration.
• UC International resumed funding of visiting scholar and international incentive grants for travel to promote collaborations between UC and our strategic partners. The office continued funding for the three pilot International Faculty Fellowships to cultivate faculty expertise and leadership in the university’s global initiatives.
• And the first cohort of Luchen Scholars from partner universities in Taiwan arrived at UC this fall, funded by a $1.5 million donation from a generous donor.