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Brazilian Program Fuels Record International Student Enrollment at UW-River Falls

November 20, 2014--As part of its current strategic plan, Pathway to Distinction, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls set a goal of enrolling 147 international students by 2017. The goal was ambitious as less than 90 international students were attending UW-River Falls in fall 2012. UW-River Falls achieved its goal by the fall 2013 semester and has nearly doubled the goal with a fall 2014 international student enrollment of 285. 

While international students attending UW-River Falls hail from 23 countries, with double-digit delegations from China and Korea, it is 171 Brazilian students that account for most of the rapid increase in international enrollment. UW-River Falls now enrolls more Brazilian students than any other campus in the UW System.  

A majority of Brazilian students are attending UW-River Falls through the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP). The BSMP provides scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students from Brazil for study at colleges and universities in the United States. Scholarships are awarded to students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. This initiative, administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), is part of the Brazilian government's larger effort to grant 100,000 scholarships to the best students from Brazil for study abroad at the worlds top universities. The program provides an exchange experience at a U.S. college or university to a diverse group of emerging Brazilian scholars, widening the academic and research exchange between the U.S. and Brazil. 

"Our programming array and experiential learning model are seen as very attractive by the IIE and the Brazilian government" said Carolyn Brady, international partnerships coordinator at UW-River Falls. 

One of the first students to attend UW-River Falls through the BSMP was Ana Paula Brumann Clemente. Clemente speaks highly of the welcoming atmosphere at UW-River Falls.  

"I could not have been luckier when I was sent to River Falls," Clemente said. "When I first got here I was supposed to spend just the summer, for the intensive English program, and after that go to another school for the academic part of the program. But after a couple days I was sure that I needed to stay here. This first impulse was because the opportunities that the school provides and also because of the environment and the people that I met at that time." 

Like many of the students attending UW-River Falls through the BSMP, Clemente studied in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences. Clemente took advantage of the hands-on learning opportunities the college provides. 

"I was able to develop a special project working with Steven Watters in the Meat Plant, which was a really valuable and unique experience," said Clemente. "I had an internship in the Dairy Pilot Plant, where I had the opportunity to work closely with Michelle Farner. I learned so much from her, she made that summer a really enjoyable experience. One of our most memorable projects was creating a bacon bourbon ice cream flavor." 

After returning to Brazil to complete her degree in chemistry, Clemente returned to the area as a fully funded BSMP graduate student at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Offered for the first time this year, only 600 Brazilian students were selected for this highly competitive program. 

"I could not choose UW-River Falls as my first option because it does not have a graduate program in food science," said Clemente. "Instead, I applied for the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, this time mainly motivated by the awesome people that I met when I was in River Falls and also because the opportunities that the area provides in my field."

For more information on the BSMP, visit http://www.iie.org/Programs/Brazil-Scientific-Mobility. For more information on international student enrollment and services at UW-River Falls, call the Global Connections office at 715-425-4891.

Clemente

Photo: Ana Paula Brumann Clemente talks about her experience in the Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP) at a luncheon celebrating the BSMP held at UW-River Falls Sept. 25.

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