The number of international students enrolling at Kingston from Asia has doubled in the past year while the number of American students enrolling on postgraduate courses has dropped to just nineteen.

Dr Heather Forland, head of international development at Kingston, said: “We have had an international officer for China for some years. The international officer responsible for this market has developed and maintained a very good relationship with existing agents, found a number of new agents and reinvigorated our partnerships with Chinese institutions.”

“America is a newer market for us. Figures for this year’s 2008/2009 intake show that the number of American students wanting to come to Kingston University has risen. The University is increasing its efforts to attract American students and has, in the last year, appointed Lisa Lessware, International Officer responsible for America, whose role is to help attract more American students to study at Kingston.”

Dr Forland added: “The most likely reason for the drop in the number of American students applying to come to Kingston between 2007/2008 and 2006/2007 is the exchange rate during the 2007 and 2008 financial years, which has affected overseas applications across the UK, not just Kingston.”

Nationwide, US students are the third largest group of international students in the UK, yet they have now fallen to eleventh in the pecking order at Kingston.

Ms Lessware said: “Kingston University has some unique selling points for American students. We are the only London University to allow American students to apply for international scholarships.”

“Choosing to study at Kingston allows American students to complete an undergraduate degree in three years which would take four to five years in America. A full-time Masters course at Kingston takes one year whereas in America it would take two years.”

The rise in Asian students has been attributed to the work done by international representatives in the various areas. Their job involves helping potential students with selecting universities and courses, submitting applications, following up documents, applying for visas and organising pre-departure briefings.

Soon Lee, head of international marketing at Kingston, said: “The international student market is very competitive and Asia has been popular for a number of years.”

Commission payment for the international offices’ overseas representatives in Asia went from £71,136.50 in 2006/7 to £142,481.25 in 2007/8 with a focus on China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. At the same time, the university has appointed an international officer in a bid to curb the falling numbers of American students after they fell for the fourth year in succession.

The university has run a number of campaigns in the US in recent weeks to raise awareness about the benefits of studying at Kingston University, including visiting US high schools, the National Association of College Admission Counselling (NACAC) college fairs and attending a US transfer student college fairs annual fair.

A university spokesperson said: “Representatives work hard to recruit students to targets set by the university but do not compromise on quality such as suitability of students. They are trained not to send unsuitable candidates to us for consideration.”

Tuition fees for international students can range from £6,300 to £10,050, compared to UK and EU students whose fee for 2008/9 is set at £3,145.

American student enrolment figures at Kingston University:

 *January intake is still being calculated.