MS NEWS: Full guide to international student tuition at Central Michigan University

Coming from Bangladesh to Central Michigan University, Surith Bhowmick battled not only cultural, but financial shock. 

Bhowmick is a master’s student who studies project management. He said he paid around $32,000 in tuition this academic year. Additionally, the prices in the United States, compared to Bangladesh, is 109.8% higher.

Carolina Hernandez Ruiz, a CMU junior from Spain, said tuition -- as well as other things international students face -- puts a financial burden on them.

“We are literally taking the same classes as a U.S. citizen … but I’m paying double, because I’m international, because I’m from another country,” Hernandez Ruiz said. “On top, I have even more things that I struggle (with) that an American doesn’t have to struggle with.”

So, what is that number next to a dollar sign and is it really worth it?

How much do international students pay tuition?

International undergraduate students pay $850 per credit hour for a lower-level class, with $875 per hour for upper-level classes. International master's-level students pay $957 per credit hour, and a doctoral international student costs $1,040 per credit hour, according to CMU’s website. 

International student tuition is also higher than domestic student tuition.

Avery Rowe is a CMU junior from Indiana. She still pays the in-state tuition rate because CMU doesn’t differentiate between in-state and out-of-state domestic students. Rowe said she didn’t know international students’ tuition was higher.

“It’s crazy,” Rowe said. “It doesn’t make sense. They already pay a lot of money to get here.”

Ling Zhang, executive director of the Office of International Affairs and Recruitment, said the reason for difference in domestic and international tuition is because international students weren’t paying taxes to the United States during their lifetime.

Public universities in the U.S. are funded, in part, by state taxes, which subsidize tuition costs for in-state residents. However, international students typically do not pay these taxes and therefore do not benefit from the same subsidies, leading to higher tuition rates, Zhang said.

“(Tuition) is very different, because normally international students or parents do not pay those kinds of taxes for residing here, and therefore, they do not benefit from the same kind of tax pot, for lack of a better word,” Zhang said. “Of course, that leads to higher tuition.”

As CMU is a public university, it partially receives its funding from the state of Michigan. Lack of state funding sometimes can also influence higher international student tuition rate, Zhang said.

The fact that international students can't access Federal Student Aid also contributes to the gap, Zhang said. 

“Out of pocket money makes the difference seem bigger,” she said. 

Zhang said international students also require additional support and services when on campus, which contributes to a higher tuition. For example, her Office of International Affairs and Recruitment serves international students’ needs, while domestic students don’t benefit from this office. 

Zhang’s office offers webinars for upcoming international students, helps with Optional Practical Training (OPT) and advises on legal questions. 

Even though there are things that make international student tuition at CMU higher than domestic, Zhang said CMU still prides itself on being affordable for students.

“Our tuition is more affordable for out-of-state students than their in-state tuition at some other universities,” Zhang said. “So, we’re very affordable.” 

In comparison, for two 12-credit semesters of lower-level classes, international students at Michigan State University (MSU) pay $21,516. Meanwhile, for the same credit hour load, CMU lower-level international students pay $19,800 a year -- around 8% less. 

However, Western Michigan University (WMU) charges their international students a lower tuition. Their 24-credit-hour year of lower-level classes is $18,116. 

Is CMU tuition actually affordable?

Hernandez Ruiz said the tuition is still a financial burden for students, especially for those without scholarships or jobs.

“It’s literally double the price of a normal student, and you go to the same classes, you have the same professors, nothing is special. There’s nothing different that you’re paying double the price,” she said. 

Bhowmick said tuition cost was already was high when he applied at CMU. Then, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the value of his nation's currency has deflated, so U.S. tuition is that much more of a burden.  

“I’m feeling right now the money issue," Bhowmick said. "I don’t want to (work) illegally, because I’m focusing more on my study.” 

He tried applying for departmental scholarships to help pay the tuition, but he didn’t receive any. Yet, Bhowmick was able to get a job on campus, at East Market.

To keep international students who study at CMU, the university needs to provide them with opportunities, such as offering scholarships and jobs, Bhowmick said. 

International student F1 visa limit them to working on campus only, and cap the amount of hours they can legally work to 20 per week 

“The working opportunities at CMU are actually limited maybe because the ratio of the university is so small,” Bhowmick said. “There are many international students that actually don’t know what to do.”

Hernandez Ruiz said, “We should have almost equal access to opportunities. But for a lot of jobs, we don’t have equal access, because again, what guarantees me that when I’m doing a job interview, that person who’s interviewing me doesn’t have biases. … That the person who was interviewing me, (they wouldn’t be like,) ‘What, they have an accent?’”

So, is it possible for CMU to create more scholarships and job positions right now? 

“Currently, I don’t really think we’re in the position to make any changes yet,” Zhang said. “We actually made some changes when I first got here (in 2020), I worked with our senior leadership team, we added scholarships to international students, which is the Scholar and the Opportunity awards.” 

Therefore, Zhang said, international undergraduate students can automatically get an International Scholarship through her office when admitted. They are based on merit and only one of those can be awarded. 

Other scholarships available are Centralis, a full ride when admitted, and departmental scholarships when a major is declared.

Alejandra Rengifo is a History, World Languages and Cultures professor who came to the U.S. from Columbia as an international student 23 years ago.

“CMU, as much as they can, tries to give scholarships,” Rengifo said. “The U.S. has a very strict ruling regarding international students, and I know that because I was an international student myself.”

Rengifo was able to afford her education at University of Colorado through her teaching assistantship. 

“I could only teach, and I could tutor,” Rengifo said. “I could not do anything else.”

At CMU, instead of scholarships, graduate students can work as graduate assistants, getting a full tuition waiver and a stipend, Zhang said.

For undergraduate international students, there are some other job positions available. 

In the pay period from March 3 to March 16, there was a total of 1,825 students employed on campus. Out of that number, 398 students were international, Student Employment Services Manager Amy Thering said in an email.

Domestic students also qualify for work-study, job positions that international student can’t have, Thering said. 

To balance that, a group of senior leaders, such as President Bob Davies and Vice President of Finance Mary Hill, worked to create more funding so that campus would be able to employ more international students, Vice President of Student Recruitment and Retention Jennifer DeHaemers said. 

“With our growing international student population at CMU, we recognized the need for student employment positions that did not require a student to be eligible for federal work study,” DeHaemers said in a written statement. 

“Several people at the university worked on a plan to identify university resources that could be used to help students who did not qualify for the federal work study program to work on campus and use the university resources rather than department funds to pay the students.”

That means that they created some new graduate assistantship and gave offices on campus the resources that they didn’t have to hire international students, DeHaemers said.

“I have to say, I worked at different institutions, and I have never seen an institution like CMU that put all the resources together to hire international students,” Zhang said. “The senior leadership … were telling, ‘Hey, if there’s any opportunity, please hire our international students.' I’ve never been at the institution that makes it so welcoming.”

Is the tuition at CMU worth it for international students?

Even though CMU offers job and scholarship opportunities, Rengifo said “there’s always room for improvement.” 

“Do I think that students are getting a good education? ... Yes,” she said. “Can we do better? Yes, we can.”

Something that can be improved at CMU for international students is not just price, but a feeling of belonging, home and being welcomed, she said. 

“I don’t know if we weren’t that prepared for the amount of people we have recruited in the sense of what are they going to need,” Rengifo said. 

For example, Hernandez Ruiz said international students faced struggles with mandated health insurance last academic year. 

CMU notified international students at the start of the 2022 fall semester that they would be required to join the institution's health insurance policy at a cost of about $1,532 per year.   

As students voiced their concerns, CMU has created an ad-hoc committee to review the health insurance policy. In the result, the university decided to keep the mandate.

Additionally, Hernandez Ruiz said international students face struggles with transportation when they just arrive to the United States.

“International students suffer, especially at the beginning of the semester (when) coming from the airport to Mount Pleasant,” she said. “(CMU) only bring two buses to the airport, they give only like two days (that) they are gonna pick up people from the airport. And you cannot pick up as many people that come in only two buses.”

Another challenge comes within the first days of arrival.

“In August when people come when they have the orientation meetings for international student, those meetings are mandatory,” Hernandez Ruiz said. “And usually, those meetings are hosted days before the residence halls open. So, students have to figure out where to stay for a couple of days.

“So, it's all extra expenses that they have to pay and they weren't planning on.”

Bhowmick said the first months at CMU were tough for him as well.

“When I came to the U.S., I was in cultural shock,” he said. “I really don’t understand ... the culture, because I’m really afraid to look at her or look at him … I just did two things: eat and sleep, and suddenly (I) realized, ‘No, no, I’m not here to just sleep and eat. I’m here to make new friends.'”

However, something that can help bring international and domestic students together is food, Rengifo said.

“It’s very important if you have your food, you feel comfortable, you feel well and you feel that you can handle things,” she said. “Community comes along.”

To give students a feeling of community, Rengifo organized the Holidays Around the World event two years in a row. There, international students shared their traditional food and made friends.

Zhang also said that two offices that served international students have been merged into Office of International Affairs and Graduate Recruitment in December 2022. That allows students to have one space where to go with their questions, which make the work smoother, Zhang said. 

The new office also opened a Welcoming Center for international students in Ronan Hall, which has been a success, she said. 

“We already start to see great improved service,” Zhang said. 

According to the CMU 2023-2024 Operating budget, the Office International Affairs and Recruitment spent $910,031 on their services and salaries. 

Zhang said even though the office is able to accommodate international students, it would still benefit from more funding. 

On the other hand, Rengifo said that even though there is still work to be done, the growing of our global culture is going well. 

“In 23 years, the change is very positive,” Rengifo said. “There are more international faculty, there are more international students. There is more openness about internationalization of the campus.”

Domestic student Rowe said that she had seen international students in her chemistry classes and made friends with some of them.

The benefit of that, Zhang said, is not only that CMU is receiving the international students’ tuition money, but the world connections and global perspectives that they bring to Mount Pleasant.

“International students play a very important role here on campus,” Zhang said. “International students bring the whole world to CMU.”