In 2010, Pitt-Johnstown officials admitted 11 international students, and, as of 2012 Spring Semester, only five remain enrolled, according to international Services Director Jennifer Kist.
Pitt-Johnstown maintains a steady increase of international students since it started its program, but the university also loses at lest half of them by their sophomore year— mostly Pitt-Oakland.
Enjiong Lu, a University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign engineering junior, was a student who spent his freshman year at Pitt-Johnstown.
“I enjoyed my time (at Pitt-Johstown), but I wanted to see how far I can go.
“Not saying that Pitt-Johnstown isn’t an ideal school, but, in comparison, I have to think of the long-run. University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign has better facilities, and it is a much more prominent institution.”
Many prospective transfer students, no matter whether they’re international, out-of-state or from Pennsylvania, face a sometimes-callous decision whether to transfer to another institution and not have most of his or her credits transfer, too.
“Only half of my credits were accepted, but I think it was worth it,” said Lu.
Zhe Zhen, a Pitt-Oakland business student, also had spent time in Pitt-Johnstown before transferring to the main campus. He did not face any predicaments regarding his credit transfers.
Most students do not encounter any credit-transfer problems when transferring to Oakland from Pitt-Johnstown, since it belongs to the same system.
“I think I was more fortunate than others (regarding credit transferring),” chuckled Zhen, “but I guess it also implies that I am not a very good student. I sent out, maybe four applications and was accepted from only one, and that was the main campus.”
Dolphin Lv, a senior biology major, is one of the five who decided to stay in UPJ. LV transferred from TianJin Medical University during his sophomore year, and felt content with what UPJ has to offer and the tranquility of Johnstown. Lv even purchased a bicycle to get around.
“I think many people who decided to stay agree it’s mostly because of the peaceful and quiet atmosphere,” he said.
