High School Clear To Give Out Student Visas for International Students

From http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/359340/high-school-clear-to-give-out-student-visas

High school clear to give out student visas
Move could boost enrollment, funds
By Tricia L. Nadolny
October 5, 2012

Bow High School now has federal approval to issue student visas, a setup common at private institutions which school officials here say could increase cultural diversity and bring in revenue.

The school typically takes in three international students each year through for-profit programs. But those students don't pay tuition, and their host families aren't provided financial incentives, according to Principal John House-Myers.

Under the visa program, which the school could start using as early as next school year, prospective students would apply directly to the district and then pay tuition as well as a room-and-board fee. The tuition rate has not been set, but House-Myers said he expects it to be slightly lower than the district's per-pupil cost, which is about $14,000.

While the state Department of Education doesn't keep statistics on how many public schools can offer visas, an official there said that Bow High School might be the first. Judith Fillion, who heads the department that tracks those figures for private schools, said yesterday no one in her office had heard of a public school approved to do so.

Read the full article at http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/359340/high-school-clear-to-give-out-student-visas