The Twin Cities were recently ranked among the top 20 metropolitan areas that attract international students to their colleges and universities, according to the Brookings Institution.

The nonprofit public policy organization reported that the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington area is ranked No. 18 in the country out of 118 metropolitan areas, hosting a total of 11,623 students from 2008 to 2012.

St. Thomas’ Director of International Admissions Christina Hilpipre-Frischman said the number of international students at St. Thomas has increased in the past few years, especially in the undergraduate programs. While statistics on international students for the 2014-2015 school year have not been released yet, the school hosted 436 foreign students in the 2013-2014 school year, according to the university’s international admissions website.

Hilpipre-Frischman said she believes the high number of international students coming to St. Thomas is due in large part to the university’s commitment to personalized attention for its students.

“It’s kind of scary coming from overseas … when they know they’re going to be taken care of here and have that one-on-one experience with faculty – that definitely draws them,” Hilpipre-Frischman said.

The rankings released at the end of August said St. Thomas is one of the top schools that foreign students sought out in the metropolitan area. Others included the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, Macalester College and Metropolitan State University.

Senior Ruben Johansen is a student from Norway who said his home country made it possible to study in the United States and, more specifically, St. Thomas.

“I came to St. Thomas through an agency called SONOR, Study Outside of Norway, where I could start college as a sophomore. This made it possible to receive financial aid from Norway, seeing as they don’t provide it for freshman year,” Johansen said.

Hilpipre-Frischman said many students abroad know of the metropolitan area because of major companies based here, including a few Fortune 500 companies. She also said that it is a relatively safe location and not as intimidating as larger cities, such as New York City or Los Angeles.

Hilpipre-Frischman also said she believes St. Thomas’ Catholic tradition is beneficial for attracting international students.

“I think that (students) feel there’s some comfort here knowing that we talk about our faith,” Hilpipre-Frischman said.

St. Thomas’ international admissions website reported that the school currently hosts students from 59 countries. Most international students at St. Thomas come from Saudi Arabia, followed by China, India, Uganda and Canada, according to Hilpipre-Frischman.

Johansen said he wanted to study in the United States because it was better for him and he loved the sports culture.

“The college atmosphere in the U.S. in unrivaled. Norway is a different college experience, which was not suited for me. Even though St. Thomas is only a D-III school, the sports atmosphere is still insane compared to Norway,” Johansen said.

Hilpipre-Frischman also said some students come to the United States and struggle to speak English, so they will spend up to a year in a separate school to hone their English speaking skills.

While Hilpipre-Frischman said many students want to gain experience to take back to their home country, some choose to stay for an optional year-long program after graduation that allows them to work in their field of study.

In the end, though, Hilpipre-Frischman said these students are pushed to the same standards as all St. Thomas students.

“International students have the same requirements as our domestic students do,” Hilpipre-Frischman said. “They have to be high-achieving students.”

Lauren Smith can be reached at smit7607@stthomas.edu.