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Though the number of international college students slipped across the nation after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the trend has not seemed to affect the University of New Mexico.

Linda Melville, international advisement specialist, said UNM has had about the same numbers of foreign students every year since 2001.

"We've gone down some, but we've always been around 800," she said.

However, she said it's important to look at UNM's trend before 2001 to see the real issue.

"I think that, nationally, the crisis was really the fact that before 9/11 there were huge amounts of growth" in international student enrollment, she said.

The rapid growth stopped for UNM after the attacks, but didn't decline much.

UNM officials say the national slump and the flat rate at UNM stem from nationwide restrictions placed on institutions since 2001.

Cheo Torres, vice president for student affairs at UNM, said U.S. embassies got more strict on who could come to the country. They made it more difficult for students to get visas and passports.

However, he said that all seems to be changing.

"It seems with the outcries of international and (national) students, the government has been more relaxed with visas and passports," he said.

Myriam Muñoz, manager of international admission, said within the past three years UNM has been recruiting heavily to get international students into the school. Some of the main recruiting is in Latin America.

A few years ago, UNM received a grant for Latin American recruitment. Since then, recruiters have participated at college fairs and have visited and conducted workshops at Fulbright Centers in Latin America.

Muñoz said UNM has shifted its focus to Latin America because UNM is known as the "University of the Americas," and she said it needs to increase the Latin American population on campus as part of that.

Recruiters also visit high schools around the world and conduct workshops for parents and students, and have created an informational CD-ROM about studying in New Mexico.

Torres said recruiters are also trying to recruit students from Italy and Spain.

Some of the biggest populations of international students at UNM come from India, China and Latin America.

Torres said there is always a need for more international students.

"It balances the university and brings better diversity to campus. It also helps us to understand other cultures," he said.

With recruiting efforts they hope to get the number of international students to skyrocket in about five years.