Judging by the student body at Cerritos College, the dream of the late Dr. King has truly been achieved. The student body here is one of the most diverse in the state. There are virtually students from all around the world on campus.

Despite government agency’s recent tightening down on student visa requirements (since 9-11) according to Program Assistant for the International Student Center, Mila David, “enrollment from foreign students is up and shows no sign of slowing down.”

In fact enrollment from foreign students has been climbing steadily for the last few years and is projected to continue to grow. Last spring Cerritos had 375 international students. This fall it expects the number to rise above 400.

Apparently government’s streamlining of student visa requirements has not affected foreign students here at Cerritos College.

As for a likely explanation for the high enrollment by foreign students David, credits the multiple ways that Cerritos College attracts students from different countries. The internet is what’s highly used by individuals from around the world to try to gain entry into college. Some other ways are form publications, through out reach programs and word of mouth.

Carlo Antiquera has been at Cerritos College since the fall of 1999. Born in the Philippine Islands, he loves being at Cerritos College, and says that he met “numerous friends in just the first week of school.”

Antiquera works in the International Student Center and helps to process applications and responds to e-mail from around the globe. He knows first hand that enrollment by foreign students is growing. “I process at least 100 applications a week.” and says that “since Sept. 11 it is harder in general for foreign students to enter the United States and college as well.”

With the on-going war against terrorism, one has to wonder if students from the Middle East are put under more scrutiny than others. David says, “We here at Cerritos College do not like the idea of putting one group of students under more scrutiny than others, so to avoid feeling pressured in that way we do not recruit as heavily from countries that the government list as terrorist states.”