Three hundred students -- from Mexico to Peru, Mongolia to Haiti -- gather weekdays in Brigham Young University's English Language Center. The ELC building teems with freshman attending their LDS Church wards on Sunday, but during the week it's a world of its own for English as a Second Language students, many of them not members.

Although many American universities experienced a drop in foreign student enrollment after 9/11, BYU bucked the trend and continued to increase its international student body by almost 1 percent in the past five years.

Last week, the Institute of International Education reported an 8 percent increase in international student enrollments in American universities for 2005-06, with 142,923 newly enrolled students in fall 2005, compared with 131,945 the previous fall. Foreign student enrollment in the United States slid 2.4 percent in 2003-04 and another 1.3 percent last year, according to the IIE.

BYU, however, has seen a steady increase since Sept. 11 instead of the expected decrease. In 2001, international students made up 5.1 percent of the campus. In 2006, they make up 6 percent, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. BYU has the largest foreign student population in Utah: 2,396 students representing more than 120 countries.

Eunju Park came to BYU a year ago from Korea, only knowing the words "Hi, how are youfi" In her listening and speaking class Tuesday, she volunteered to moderate a discussion about education. Park, now a confident English speaker, is not a member of the LDS Church. Rather, she travelled the 5,911 miles to BYU for the value, she said.

"It's the safest and cheapest school anywhere," she said. "The people are very nice, too. I've been to other American cities and they don't even say hello to you."

Inna Dodge, an Armenian native and Park's English professor, says only 60 percent of her students are LDS Church members, compared to the 98 percent membership among the total student body.

"They came because BYU is a really good school," Dodge said.

"Our campus is a meeting place for people who have learned to appreciate other cultures, which makes an inviting environment for many of our international students," Jenkins explained.

According to a 2004 BYU campus survey, 77 percent of the student body -- including 85 percent of seniors -- speak a second language, and 47 percent have lived outside of the United States for at least one year, the majority of whom served international missions for the LDS Church.

Foreign students are gradually returning to other Utah schools after the Sept. 11 attacks tightened immigration requirements and reduced enrollments. Officials say international enrollment at Utah's colleges and universities tops 22,000 and is approaching the pre-2001 levels.

At Utah Valley State College, international enrollment has recovered to about 400 this year after falling into the low 300s after the Sept. 11 attacks, said Boyd Bauer, director of the International Center at the Orem school.

The number of international students enrolled at the University of Utah increased for the first time in four years. The U of U has 1,560 foreign students on campus this year, 59 more than last year. It's the first increase since 2002, when the university had about 1,640 students.

"We've lost about 50 students per year since the Sept. 11 attacks," said Bill Barnhart, director of the university's international center.

"I wouldn't say we've turned the corner, but we are now taking significant action in trying to recruit and overcome the visa problems," Bauer said. "Most of the international students that come here have made enormous sacrifices to get here. They really value their education, and it should rub off on our students, too."

For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Southern California remains the U.S. campus with the largest international student enrollment, with 6,881 international students.

Of the 6 percent daytime international students at BYU:

26 percent are from the Far East

14 percent are from South America

14 percent are from Canada

13 percent are from Europe

12 percent are from Central America and Mexico

7 percent are from the Middle East

7 percent are from Eastern Europe and Russia

7 percent are from other areas

Most popular fields of study for international students in the United States in 2005-06:

Business and Management (18% of total)

Engineering (16%)

Physical and Life Sciences (9%)

Social Sciences (8%)

Mathematics and Computer Sciences (8%)

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.