CBC establishes international scholarship fund

The international student population on the Central Baptist College campus is growing and president Terry Kimbrow is working to keep it that way.

With a total of eight students from around the world studying at the college during the fall semester, Kimbrow said the numbers are on the rise.

"This year was a big jump and it tied a record number of international students that we had in the past," Kimbrow said Monday.

After the terroristic attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Kimbrow said the college began to drop off in its international numbers, but they are now beginning to come back up.

Kimbrow said he not only thinks it's important to bring international students to campus to take advantage of the education CBC provides, but to keep them there.

To do this, Kimbrow has established the CBC International Student Scholarship Fund.

Kimbrow said he has personally seen the problem of international students whose funding sources have been depleted prior to finishing their degrees.

"They often have promises back home or over here from people who will fund their scholarships, but then they get here and those promises don't always happen and then they either face having to go back or having to drop out," Kimbrow said.

The president also noted that international students are typically not able to work any off-campus jobs, nor are they eligible to apply for student loans or Pell grants to help make ends meet.

According to Kimbrow, he hopes to be able to use these funds to ease tuition costs for international students who have studied at CBC for at least one semester and proven their ability to work hard.

"We know this is important, especially for students who have good track records," Kimbrow said.

Although Kimbrow said he likes to see all sides of the population at his college growing in quality and in quantity, he said he especially likes what the international students bring to the table.

"Many of these students, they will go back to their countries and be missionaries," Kimbrow said. "And their presence also provides more of a diverse atmosphere here on campus and that is very important to have at colleges everywhere."

Offering a unique learning experience is something Kimbrow said he is proud to say CBC does for the students who have come from places like Brazil, China, Korea and Russia.

"We want to make the education possible that's often not possible for them where they come from," Kimbrow said. "And, for our particular mission, if someone wants to come from Kenya or Tanzania, learn the Bible and then take it back to their village or to their country, we want to be able to provide that for them."

Although no CBC admissions recruiters have the budget to travel overseas and seek out students, Kimbrow said one reason the international population is growing is the searching students are doing on the CBC Web site.

"They will spend hours and hours researching and choose a college sight unseen, not based on the site itself, but what the college offers," Kimbrow said. "There were two students this year who we picked up in the airport and just took straight to registration and that's unbelievable."

According to a CBC news release, donations are being accepted to establish the international scholarship fund and can be sent to Central Baptist College, 1501 College Avenue, Conway, AR 72034.

(Staff writer Jessica Bauer can be reached by e-mail at jessica.bauer@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)