Increased national security measures restricting student visas put in effect after last year’s Sept. 11 terrorist attacks haven’t dampened the rate of Sacramento State students studying abroad or of international students enrolling here.

“International exchange is stronger than ever this year,” said Jack Godwin, director of the Global Education department at Sac State. “Last year we had 701 students (from abroad). This year, we estimate 775-800.”

The number of students from Sac State studying abroad has also increased. Last year there were 225 out bound students from campus, and Godwin estimates that those numbers “are up 30 percent since last year at this time.”

Sutee Sujitparapitaya, director of Institutional Research at Sac State, confirmed that the numbers for first-time freshmen, transfers, graduate and undergraduate students coming from abroad have increased.

“The number of student visas has gone up every semester, (and) there have been no significant changes in regards to the Sept. 11 situation,” he said.

The Internal Naturalization Service increased its scrutiny of students applying for visas after the attacks, but Sac State’s policies remain unchanged, said Godwin.

“We’re not an anti-terrorist university, we’re a college campus,” he said. “It’s gratifying that the interest in this field did not decline after Sept. 11 – it increased.”