On January 20, amid great fanfare, Barack Hussein Obama II was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Although the excitement generated from Obama's campaign and inauguration permeates all parts of the US and indeed the world, perhaps no sector of society should be as enthusiastic as those in international education.

Aside from being the first black US President, Obama is the son of an international student from Kenya and a US mother, has a name that sounds Muslim, and lived for four years in Indonesia as a child. His presidency puts an altogether different face on the US - a face far more reflective of a multi-cultural, internationalized and progressive nation, a nation that, without any further action, immediately appears much more welcoming to people of every faith and race around the world.

But many in international education hope there will be further action. Experience abroad will be much more prized in Obama's administration - you can read about the international life of several of his close advisers in the Newsweek article, "A Team of Expatriates." With a more wordly view, hope runs high that the Obama administration will continue to reduce barriers to entry for foreign students, and will work to permit recent international student graduates to stay in the US and work longer and more easily. In his own words, from a November 2007 interview with Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.com:

"I support comprehensive immigration reform that includes improvement in our visa programs, including our legal permanent resident visa programs and temporary programs including the H-1B program, to attract some of the world’s most talented people to America. We should allow immigrants who earn their degrees in the U.S. to stay, work, and become Americans over time."

What do you think? Will President Obama have an impact on the global perception of the USA, and how attractive the USA is as a destination for international students? Visit this post on our forums and sound off!

This month we have an international student posting in our Study in the USA forum who asks a questions about inexpensive schools in the USA:

"Hi. At first I thought going to the USA would be completely out of my reach financially seeing college prices as high as 35k a year which is just...wow. However, recently I found out that the prices of colleges vary greatly and there are low cost colleges that do seem affordable so I decided to pursue this or at least give it a strong consideration.

Being that it's already 2009, I don't have a whole lot of time and I got to be as prompt as possible if I wanna go through with this so what I'm asking for basically are some recommendations of colleges or sorts that belong in the group of low cost colleges as far as tuition fee for international students that you know of and would genuinely recommend. Pretty much places that fit the following criteria, inexpensive, accepting of international students and I guess, possible to get into. Thanks."

If you know the names of some schools, or can recommend somewhere please respond at:

http://www.internationalstudentforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6874

We hope you enjoyed this month's newsletter, and best of luck to you as you pursue or help others pursue an international education! As always please contact us with any questions or comments you have about the newsletter - we love to hear from you! And please give us your thoughts, good or bad, on the new InternationalStudent.com.